PIONEER NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun
Pauri Police arrested another key accused from Lucknow in the multi-crore fraud involving the fake Loni Urban Multi State Credit and Thrift Cooperative Society Ltd (LUCC). The accused Ramnath Gupta is a Uttar Pradesh resident who allegedly served as the signing authority in the LUCC company and withdrew approximately Rs 23 crore from the company’s account, the Pauri senior superintendent of police Lokeshwar Singh said. The SSP, who is overseeing investigations into the LUCC-related fraud cases registered across the Garhwal region, stated that a police team led by Kotdwar inspector Ramesh Tanwar arrested Gupta on May 22 in Lucknow after tracking his changing locations and phone numbers using surveillance and intelligence. He informed that the initial complaint in the LUCC case was filed by Tripti Negi of Kotdwar on June 1, 2024, followed by another FIR based on Anjana Rawat’s complaint. The police have filed FIRs under relevant sections and provisions of the relevant acts including the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes (BUDS) Act. He said that the investigations revealed that Rs 22.94 crore had been transferred from LUCC bank accounts to Gupta’s PNB account, which he withdrew using cheques and cash. “LUCC chairman Jitendra Niranjan had granted the arrested accused Gupta signing authority for the bank account. The police presented Gupta in the BUDS Court, Dehradun and sent him to judicial custody after completing the required legal procedures,” Singh said. The SSP stated that the Pauri police had arrested 10 other accused in the same fraud case, including Urmila Bisht, Jagmohan Singh Bisht, Pragya Rawat, Vineet Singh, Girish Chandra Bisht and Chandan Ram Raj Purohit. Police are also working to identify and seize the assets of the accused. The police will continue their investigation and efforts to apprehend remaining suspects based on collected evidence, the SSP added.
