Bank cashier lost ₹35 lakhs in online game ‘Star Maker’:Stole ₹42 lakhs from customers’ accounts; assistant cashier, branch manager absconding

Police arrested female cashier Ritu Goswami (44) on Monday, who was absconding in a case of embezzlement of ₹41 lakh 58 thousand 95 from the Theebgaon branch of the District Cooperative Central Bank in Khargone, Madhya Pradesh. In the initial interrogation, she confessed to losing more than ₹35 lakh from the embezzled amount in the online game ‘Star Maker’. Police recovered ₹1 lakh 49 thousand in cash, three mobile phones, and the bank’s ID card from her possession. She also used this money to arrange air travel for her family. Station In-charge Sudarshan Kumar said that the accused was connected to the ‘Star Maker’ game through some link. During interrogation, she revealed that while playing the game, she lost a large amount of money. Police are investigating her claims and the money transactions. Took family on trips with embezzled money The investigation has revealed that the accused spent a portion of the embezzled money on trips with her family. According to police, she took her in-laws, husband, and children on flights to Mumbai, Delhi, and Indore for sightseeing. Police have so far recovered ₹1.49 lakh from her, while information about the use of the remaining amount is being gathered. Had gone to Mumbai, got mobile numbers disconnected According to police, after fleeing with money from the bank, Ritu reached her in-laws’ house in Mumbai. There, she told family members that she had come on leave from the bank. The investigation also revealed that family mobile numbers had been disconnected so that the bank or police could not contact them. Police searched in Delhi by hiding their identity The Jaitapur police team reached Mumbai and Delhi in search of the accused. In Delhi’s Rohini area, police gathered information about her whereabouts and activities by hiding their identity for four days. Police personnel tried to reach the accused by mingling with local people. However, before police could take action in Delhi, Ritu returned to Khargone via Indore with her family. Two, including branch manager, absconding SP Ravindra Verma said that the interrogation of the main accused is ongoing on police remand. In this case, assistant cashier Tryambak Vani and branch manager Rajesh Rathod of the Thibgaon branch are still absconding. Continuous raids are being conducted to search for them. Efforts to recover the embezzled amount are also ongoing. Case was registered on May 29 According to police, Ritu absconded with money from the bank on May 25-26. The bank’s investigation committee investigated the matter for five days. After this, a case was registered under sections 316(5) and 3(5) of BNS on May 29 based on the complaint of current branch manager Rajesh Gupta.