An 83-year-old freedom fighter signed a cheque for Rs 100, but was shocked to find Rs 3.50 lakh withdrawn from his bank account.





Mool Raj Sood, a resident of south Delhi’s Neb Sarai, had made the payment as processing fee for refund of an insurance policy.



Sood holds a Bank of India account with Malai Mandir branch in south Delhi’s RK Puram.

In 2011, Sood had tried to purchase an insurance policy from Reliance Insurance Company.



He had issued a cheque of Rs 17,500 as the first premium towards the policy. However, no policy was issued to Sood.



Over the years, he tried to get a refund and wrote several letters to the insurance company, but received no reply.



On February 22, Sood received a phone call from ‘Vishal Bhardwaj’, who claimed to be an agent of Reliance Insurance Company.



Vishal offered to help Sood in getting a refund of the entire money. Sood was then told to submit a photograph, ID proof and make a processing fee.



A man named Abhay was then sent by Vishal to collect the documents from Sood’s house on February 26.



Abhay told Sood that he was not sure about the exact amount of the processing fee and claimed that it would be around Rs 100.



“Abhay asked Sood to give him a signed cheque and said he would fill the details of the amount himself,” said a police officer.



Sood trusted Abhay and gave him a signed cheque. However, a cheque of Rs 3.50 lakh was submitted and the amount was withdrawn in cash.



It is alleged that Sood’s signature was also forged on the cheque. Sood also alleged that the men seemed to be aware of the money available in his bank account.



“The withdrawn amount was close to the total balance in Sood’s bank amount,” the officer added.



On finding out that he had been duped, Sood filed a complaint with RK Puram police station on March 5. Police have filed a complaint under section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code.



“As the money was withdrawn in cash, we have checked CCTV footage of the bank. But no arrest has been made so far,” the officer said.