Paradip, April 3: Jagatsinghpur police have sought assistance of the Bihar cops to help them investigate an inter-state counterfeit cheque racket.

“The police nabbed Lavkush Kumar, 22, while he was trying deposit a counterfeit cheque at a nationalised bank here. Smartly dressed Kumar is suave and can speak English quite well. He had earlier deposited a cheque worth Rs 4 lakh purportedly issued by a public sector bank’s branch in Patna. But the cheque was found to be fake,” Jagatsinghpur superintendent of police Satyabrata Bhoi told The Telegraph.

The alleged goons have formed a company called Nice Security Solutions Private Limited in Patna city. The company is supposed to be a supplier of fire extinguishers. The police said counterfeit cheques were being circulated from the said company office.

Chandan Kumar and Naveen Kumar, both from Bihar, have been identified as masterminds of the racket.

“At least four bank accounts were being operated by the duo under fictitious names,” said a source in the police.

The police suspected these people had been operating in various areas including, Malda (Bengal), Guwahati (Assam) Nasik (Maharashtra) and Ahmedabad (Gujarat). The fraudsters are believed to withdrawn hefty amount from various accounts in Kendrapara, Jajpur, Paradip, Malkangiri and Rayagada.