Farooq Calcuttawala alias Manoj Patil alias Raju and Arvind Vaishnav alias Dilip Patel alias Shah have been on the `wanted' list after banks in Mumbra, Ghatkopar and Opera House have suffered losses up to Rs 24 lakh in the last month. The fraud is collectively worth Rs 1 crore over the last five years. According to S G Waghmare, Senior Inspector, Banking unit, EOW, Calcuttawala is proficient in overwriting DDs and is believed to be involved in a recent case at Mumbra where the Virshaiv Bank was deceived into paying Rs 12,00,100 against a DD originally written for Rs 100.

``His is a very interesting modus operandi,'' says Sub-Inspector investigating the case, Veena Sawkar. Calcuttawala allegedly stole a DD of Rs 100 from the Muslim Cooperative BankLtd, Lonavala, and overwrote it to the value of Rs 12,00,100. He then befriended an autorickshaw driver in Vashi, only to use his account on the pretext of depositing the forged DD as he didn't have an account in the city, and promised him commission in return. ``

By the time Virshaiv Bank discovered the loss, Calcuttawala had vanished and the EOW could only arrest the driver,'' says Sawkar. The accused are also suspected to be involved in two similar cases at Ghatkopar (W). Two DDs worth Rs 100 from the drawee bank the Srimantmaloji Raje Sarkari Bank of Phaltan, Satrara were overwritten to make forged financial instruments worth Rs 6,80,100 and Rs 5,00,100.

They were then deposited into the accounts of Gajanan Traders and Rohit Khare at the Janakalyan Cooperative Bank, Ghatkopar (W).

Sawkar said the accused are also involved in a case where CT Cooperative Bank, Opera House, paid Rs 8,80,500 against a DD from the same bank in Satara, which was originally for Rs 500.