According to the police the matter came to light on December 8, after several account holders found their deposits wiped out from their monthly savings, recurring deposits and other postal savings schemes. (Representational Image)

Mumbai: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Thane (rural) police on Monday arrested authorised post office agent, Seema Gode and her accomplice Farzeen Shaikh on charges of fraud and cheating scores of depositors in Mira Road.  

According to the police the matter came to light on December 8, after several account holders found their deposits wiped out from their monthly savings, recurring deposits and other postal savings schemes. While 24 unsuspecting account holders who have lost a collective amount of nearly Rs 1 crore have so far registered their complaints with the police, the magnitude of the fraud seems much higher as proceeds from various schemes had been fraudulently pocketed on the virtue of fake withdrawals.

In some cases, the deposits were never credited into the ledgers but passbook entries were apparently manipulated, giving an impression to account holders that every thing was in order. All these accounts were opened and handled by Seema Gode who along with her assistant-Farzeen Shaikh have been booked under sections 406, 420, 465, 467, 468, 471, 473 and 102 (B) of the Indian Penal Code.

While Gode will be produced before the court on Tuesday, police is searching for Farzeen.  Gode continues to maintain that Farzeen perpetrated the scam without her knowledge. “After the demise of my husband last year, I had deposited Rs 10 lakh for the education of my two children. I kept asking for the passbooks but she continued to give evasive answers,” said an inconsolable Jalaja Mehta. Ex-Navy man Rajendra Rawat and senior citizen S.N. Dabral who were cheated of Rs 15 lakh and Rs 4.7 lakh respectively.

Additional SP (Thane-rural), Prashant Kadam has appealed other duped victims to come forward and register their complaints with the EOW. “I am handling the case. While special teams have been formed, a detailed probe was on and none of the culprits will be spared.” said Mr Kadam.