SHILLONG, JUN 19: Six people have been arrested by West Garo Hills Police for allegedly running an inter-state cheating racket using forged GHADC work orders and licences to dupe suppliers across India.

The arrests followed an FIR by the GHADC Secretary on May 7 and victim inputs.

On the night of June 11, police learnt that fraudsters were in Guwahati to cheat a Gujarat businessman with a fake supply contract.

A team led by the Additional SP, West Garo Hills, rushed to Guwahati and picked up five suspects from Greenwood Hotel on June 12.

A sixth accused, Reeturaj Kaundinya of Tezpur, was later arrested from Sonitpur district.

The arrested have been identified as Narendra Singh (46) of Kamrup district; Dip Hazarika (53) of Guwahati; Kokkal Dutta, (58) of Bongaigaon; Taposh Mukherjee (45) of Faridabad, Haryana; Mridupaban Gogoi (40) of Golaghat; and Reeturaj Kaundinya (50) of Tezpur.

Police seized suspected fake GHADC work orders, terms documents, a counterfeit non-tribal trading licence issued to ‘Om Sai Sarees, Surat’, and ₹50,000 cash from the group.

Investigators said the gang had already taken ₹3 lakh from the victim and was trying to extract 4% commission on a bogus ₹46 crore work order when intercepted.

The recovery points to an organized network using forged government documents for financial fraud.

A case is registered at Tura Police Station and more suspects and victims are being traced.

SP Abraham T Sangma has advised traders and contractors to verify all work orders and licences directly with issuing authorities before any payment, and to report suspicious deals to Tura PCR on +91 88374 23053, +91 70055 30510 or +91 90891 99064.