4 booked for defrauding govt by forging jail official's signature in UP's Azamgarh: Police

Azamgarh (UP), Oct 11 (PTI) A dowry-death convict currently out on bail from the Azamgarh jail and three others have been booked in this Uttar Pradesh district for allegedly defrauding the government of several lakhs of rupees by forging the jail superintendent's signature, officials said on Saturday.

Accused Ramjeet Yadav allegedly ran the fraud undetected for 18 months.

An FIR has been lodged at the Kotwali police station against Yadav and three others -- former jail inmate Shivshankar alias Gorakh, Senior Assistant Mushir Ahmad and guard Awadhesh Kumar Pandey -- on the charges of fraud and forgery, Jail Superintendent Aditya Kumar Singh said.

Police said Yadav, who was assigned work duties while serving his sentence, allegedly learned the process of handling official documents, including cheque signatures.

After being released on bail on May 20, 2024, he reportedly stole a bank chequebook from the jail accountant's office. Investigations revealed that between May 2024 and September 2025, he forged the prison superintendent's signature multiple times to withdraw large sums from the jail's government account, police said.

The fraud came to light on September 22, after a suspicious withdrawal of Rs 2.6 lakh prompted a detailed review of the bank statement.

Further scrutiny uncovered that the accused had transferred Rs 2.4 lakh to the account of one of his female relatives, Rs 3 lakh to his mother Sudami Devi's account and made additional transfers to other unidentified accounts.

Yadav, a resident of Bilariaganj in Uttar Pradesh, has a criminal history. He was first jailed in 2011 for his wife's murder in the dowry-death case.

All four accused are currently in police custody and further investigation is on, Superintendent of Police (SP), City, Madhuban Kumar Singh said. PTI COR CDN ANM RC