PIONEER NEWS SERVICE | Dehradun
The Pauri senior superintendent of police Lokeshwar Singh on Sunday held a meeting with investigating officers handling cases related to the Loni Urban Multi State Credit and Thrift Cooperative Society Ltd (LUCC) fraud reported to be amounting to crores of rupees. Singh is supervising the investigation and held an online meeting with officers from various districts of the State to assess the progress of investigations and direct future actions.
Singh directed all investigating officers to intensify efforts for collecting concrete evidence and take action to identify and seize the properties of the accused. He also instructed them to coordinate with other investigative agencies for gathering documents including passports and related identification. He further directed the officers to establish contact with central agencies to ensure coordinated action across all districts where cases are registered. Singh informed that the LUCC cooperative society fraud case first came to light in 2024, when a complaint was filed by Kotdwar resident Tripti Negi on June 1.
She accused LUCC branch manager Vineet Singh and cashier Pragya Rawat of collecting money under the pretense of opening a recurring deposit but failing to provide any bond or deposit confirmation. A case under IPC Section 420 was registered at Kotdwar police station. The accused were arrested and sent to jail by Pauri police, as per the officials. Currently, multiple cases related to the same fraudulent society have been registered across various districts including Dehradun, Pauri, Uttarkashi, Tehri and Rudraprayag. A total of 13 cases have been filed, with four in Pauri district including two in Kotdwar, one each in Pauri and Srinagar, four in Tehri district including one each in Devprayag, Chamba, New Tehri and Ghansali, two in Dehradun district including one each in Rishikesh and Patelnagar, two in Rudraprayag district including one each in Ukhimath and Rudraprayag and one in Uttarkashi district. One case from Kotdwar has been transferred to the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CBCID) unit of Dehradun.
The officials informed that so far, eight accused including the State head have been arrested in connection with the LUCC fraud. Lookout circulars have been issued against four individuals- Girish Chandra Bisht, Uttam Singh, Sameer Agarwal and Sabab Hussain. Three bank accounts linked to the fraudulent activity have been frozen too. The SSP said that the officers have been instructed to carry out their investigations proactively and a follow-up review of the case progress will be conducted soon.
