Lucknow: A case of embezzlement of Rs 8.75 lakh from Advocates’ Disaster Relief Fund, created to provide emergency financial assistance to lawyers and their families, came to light in Balrampur district. Police registered FIR against 11 persons, including the committee’s former convenor.President of Collectorate Bar Association Kamleshwar Singh complained Advocates’ Disaster Relief Committee holds a bank account at Balrampur branch of UP Gramin Bank and is operated through joint signatures of authorised office-bearers.Former convenor Shashank Kumar Tripathi, removed from his post during a general body meeting on Dec 12, 2025, continued to access the committee’s banking operations and allegedly obtained 50 cheque leaves from the bank on Apr 16 and Jun 3. The accused prepared forged cheques bearing fabricated signatures and seals of authorised signatories and withdrew Rs 8.75 lakh. Withdrawals were shown as payments made to various individuals.According to FIR, payments reflected included Rs 1 lakh each in the names of Ram Charitra, Devi Prasad, Avadh Ram, Lakshman, Ambuj, Shiv Shankar, Ram Sevak and Durga Prasad; Rs 25,000 to Ram Surat and Rs 50,000 in the name of Akshay Kumar.On Jun 8 committee office-bearers obtained bank account statement and noticed suspicious withdrawals. They examined the transactions Following this, a general body meeting of the committee was convened on Jun 10 to .The cheques were scrutinised. Authorised signatories Ajay Bahadur Singh, Anil Kumar Shukla and Ramesh Chandra Tripathi said signatures on the cheques were not theirs. The committee concluded that forged signatures and counterfeit seals had been used for withdrawals.Bar association president alleged the former convenor connived with others to prepare forged cheques and obtain payments.Confirming the registration of the case, Nagar Kotwali Station House Officer Santosh Kumar Mishra said an FIR has been lodged on the basis of the complaint. He said investigators are examining bank records, the process through which cheque books were issued, the identities of the beneficiaries who received the payments, and the authenticity of the signatures appearing on the disputed cheques.Police said further legal action would be taken on the basis of evidence collected during the investigation.
