Ex-Army man booked in UP for suspicious money transfer

Lucknow, Feb 9 (IANS) An amount of Rs 1.82 crore was transferred to 12 bank accounts of a terminated store handler, a Sepoy, of the Army Reserve Supply Depot in Lucknow, from suspicious bank accounts, between 2019 and 2023, police have said.Senior police officials said these funds were transferred from places closer to the Indian borders and the sepoy is suspected to be involved in anti-national activities.The sepoy’s activities came to the fore when he flew to Bengaluru along with his wife and two children in April 2022, assuming the identity of a Lieutenant Colonel rank officer.A court of inquiry was initiated against the sepoy, identified as Prince Kumar Singh after which he was terminated from service on December 19, 2023.The police started investigation into the matter when Lt. Col. Mithilesh Yadav lodged an FIR against the sepoy for forging his identity under multiple sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Information Technology (IT) Act at the Alambagh police station of Lucknow on February 6.Shiv Shankar Mahadevan, inspector, Alambagh police station, said that the FIR was registered under IPC sections 409 for criminal breach of trust by a government servant, 420 for cheating and dishonestly inducing anything, 467 for forgery of valuable security, 468 for forgery for purpose of cheating, 471 for using as genuine a forged document, as well as section 66D of IT Act.“Other charges are likely to be added in the FIR after finding evidence of involvement of anti-national activities. Other investigation agencies like the UP Anti-Terror Squad TS and the Intelligence Bureau have been informed about the development,” he added.One Chinese laptop has been recovered from the sepoy which he claimed to be of his wife’s sister. It was also found that Qatar Riyal 1052 (i.e. around Rs 24,000) was also transferred to his father-in-law Shambhu Singh’s bank account from one MM Hussain of Bangladesh,” the complainant said in the FIR lodged with the police.–IANSamita/dpb