In Bilaspur, a troubling incident has unfolded at the Punjab National Bank (PNB) involving a local laborer and a massive discrepancy in his savings account. Sardar Lal, a laborer from Piruwala village, deposited Rs. 1.75 lakh into his PNB savings account. However, when he went to withdraw his money, he was shocked to discover that only Rs. 15,000 was available in his account. The remaining Rs. 1.60 lakh seemed to have vanished.
On Friday, Sardar Lal, accompanied by District Vice President of the Kisan Union Gurmej Singh Kapuri, along with fellow farmers Satinder Singh Feruwala, Gurvinder Singh Changanoli, Neeraj Kapuri, and others, stormed the PNB branch. Frustrated by the lack of a satisfactory response from bank employees, the group staged a protest by spreading a mat in front of the bank’s gate and chanting anti-bank slogans.
The situation escalated until bank manager Gurcharan Singh arrived to address the aggrieved farmers. Despite his efforts to calm the situation, the farmers remained unsatisfied. They warned the bank that if Sardar Lal did not receive his remaining money by Monday, they would lock the bank and initiate a sit-in demonstration.
Sardar Lal shared his distressing experience, explaining that he had deposited Rs. 1.75 lakh with a bank employee a few months ago. When he needed the money recently, he was stunned to learn that only Rs. 15,000 was in his account, with the remaining Rs. 1.60 lakh missing. Despite repeated visits to the bank, he was continually told to wait for the issue to be resolved.
PNB manager Gurcharan Singh clarified that the issue stemmed from an employee of Relisec Company (Business Correspondent), which handles transaction work for the bank. This employee, who had been responsible for depositing money into accounts, failed to deposit Sardar Lal’s funds. The employee issued a receipt for the deposit but did not actually credit the amount to the account.
Upon discovering the fraud, Gurcharan Singh initiated an investigation and informed Relisec Company. The company has been asked to investigate the employee’s actions and recover the funds. Gurcharan Singh assured that the bank is committed to assisting Sardar Lal in every possible way and clarified that no fraud had occurred on the part of the bank itself.
As the community waits for a resolution, the protest highlights the urgency of addressing such fraudulent practices and ensuring that customers’ grievances are promptly and effectively handled.
