J-K Crime Branch books policeman for fraud

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Jammu:

The Crime Branch of Jammu and Kashmir police on Thursday booked a policeman here for alleged fraudulent withdrawal of over Rs 5.53 lakh on account of fake medical bills for the treatment of his father who had in fact died a few years ago.

The criminal case against selection grade constable Ravi Kumar of the Armed Range Office in Jammu was registered under relevant provisions of law following a communication received from zonal armed police headquarters, a spokesman of the Crime Branch, Jammu said.

In the letter, he said the zonal police headquarters revealed that after the scrutiny of a medical reimbursement claim of Rs 1,92,553 preferred by Kumar on account of medical expenses claimed by him on the treatment of his ailing father Prem Dass, it has manifested that the bills in question were based on a fake and fictitious claim, as the father of the official had already passed away in 2016.

“Kumar with criminal intention had managed fictitious vouchers by concealing the death of his father with an aim to defraud the department and draw the money from the government exchequer by fraudulent means,” the spokesman said.

He said preliminary verification revealed that Kumar’s father had expired in 2016, but the individual used fake documents and cheated the department to draw huge amounts of money illegally from the government exchequer by producing fake bills after his father’s death.

“In this process, the individual has drawn Rs 5,53,695 fraudulently from the office of Armed Range Office, Jammu. Moreover, it has also learnt that the individual has similarly drawn huge amounts by producing fake and fraudulent vouchers in the name of his father from the places of his earlier postings,” the spokesman said.

An in-depth investigation is underway after registration of a case against the accused, he added.