THANE: Unidentified persons allegedly tried to withdraw nearly Rs 26 crore through cheques by forging signatures of senior civic and health officials from Thane district in Maharashtra, police said on Sunday.However, their attempts were foiled by alert bank officials, a police spokesperson said.Two banks informed the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) that some unidentified persons came to their branches in Pune and Chennai in the last few days carrying cheques worth around Rs 26 crore and bearing signatures of civic commissioner Sanjeev Jaiswal and health officer R T Kendre, the official said.They informed the TMC that these persons wanted to deposit the cheques in favour of some private organisations.On cross-checking with the TMC about such high-value cheques, the banks got to know that those were not issued by the civic body, she said.Later, during verification, the cheques were found to be carrying forged signatures and stamps of the senior civic and health officials, she said.Based on a complaint by the civic body, an offence was registered on Saturday against unidentified persons under various Indian Penal Code sections for forgery and cheating, the police spokesperson said.No arrest was made so far, she said, adding that a probe was underway in the matter.

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