VARANASI, Oct. 13 -- Four accused, who were detained on Saturday for siphoning off the funds from the official bank account of the divisional jail using forged signatures of Jail Superintendent on the cheques, confessed to have committed the crime, said superintendent of police, Azamgarh city, Madhuban Singh. Jail superintendent Aditya Kumar filed a complaint at the city police station on Saturday, alleging that Rs.52,85,000 had been fraudulently withdrawn from the jail's official bank account. On October 9, senior assistant/accounting officer Mushir Ahmed was asked for information regarding the remaining funds sent for treatment at BHU, Varanasi, but he expressed ignorance. Upon request for an account statement from Canara Bank, the Kotwali branch, it came to light that the funds had been transferred to the account of ex inmate Ramjeet Yadav, a resident of Bilariaganj area. Investigation revealed that Ramjeet Yadav, who was released from prison on May 20, 2024, conspired with his fellow prisoner, Shivshankar Yadav, to commit this fraud. The two, along with jail employees Mushir Ahmed and jail watchman Awadhesh Kumar Pandey stole the jail superintendent's checkbook and hatched a plan to withdraw crores of rupees by using forged signatures and seals. SP city Madhuban Kumar Singh said that a bike purchased with the embezzled money, a mobile phone, a photo of a bank cheque, a bank statement, and a fake seal of the district jail were recovered from the possession of accused Ramjeet Yadav. During interrogation, he admitted that he spent Rs.25 lakh on his sister's wedding, bought a bike for Rs.3.75 lakh, and paid off a loan with Rs.10 lakh. The remaining Rs.23,000 in his account has been put on hold by the police. Accused Mushir Ahmed spent Rs.7 lakh of his share, Shivshankar Yadav spent Rs.5 lakh, and Awadhesh Pandey spent Rs.1.5 lakh on personal and household expenses. During interrogation, all four accused confessed that they used the fake signature and seal of the jail superintendent to fill out blank cheques and transfer the money to their accounts. The matter came to light on September 22 when jail superintendent Aditya Kumar Singh noticed a withdrawal of Rs 2.6 lakh from the account. When questioned, jail accounts official Mushir Ahmed denied any such transaction. Upon verification from the bank, it was found that Yadav had been repeatedly withdrawing funds using forged cheques, posing as a jail contractor....