Two employees of Punjab National Bank’s Farakka Barrage branch in Murshidabad West Bengal have been arrested for allegedly embezzling customers’ savings over the past few months. Customers deposited their money in branch but cashier did not deposit the money in their account and provided fake cash receipts to customers.
PNB Farakka Branch Cashier Suvendu Saha and casual worker Praveen Dutta were arrested from their homes in Palashi village under Farakka police station on Thursday night and produced before the Jangipur court on Friday. The court has remanded them in six days of police custody. PNB branch manager Anirban Mitra said: “For the past few months, some customers have been complaining about missing credits despite depositing money into their savings accounts. Around 50 customers submitted written complaints. During an internal inquiry, it was found that about ₹64 lakh of these customers’ money went missing even though they had apparently deposited it.”
Bank sources said an internal inquiry revealed the cashier had received money from customers but did not deposit it into their accounts.
“They issued the stamped receipts — the counterpart of deposit forms — for the deposited cash but did not physically or digitally credit the money to the customers’ savings accounts. Instead, they pocketed it. The embezzlement could be proved only because the complainants produced the acknowledgement parts of their deposit forms,” a senior PNB official said.
The bank authorities are now trying to determine whether there were more such cases involving customers who might still be unaware of the fraud. Several customers have alleged that more employees of the branch could be involved in the scam.
Deputy superintendent of police Farakka Sheikh Shamsuddin said: “The manager of the Farakka Barrage branch of Punjab National Bank in Murshidabad West Bengal filed a written complaint with the Farakka police station. Based on that complaint, police investigated and arrested two employees last night. We are trying to find out if the accused persons cheated more customers.”
How to stay safe from such frauds?
When you deposit cash in a bank, you should always ask the cashier for a digital cash receipt. Banks have digital receipt printers that issue a receipt immediately after a cash deposit. Alternatively, you can also request an entry in your passbook as proof of the transaction. In addition, banks usually send an SMS notification to your registered mobile number after every deposit. There’s also a simple way to check your account details from home — you can check your balance on WhatsApp. Just send “Hi” to +91-9264092640, and you can easily view your account balance and statement. By using these methods, you can ensure that your money has been safely deposited into your bank account.
