NOIDA: Employees of Punjab National Bank’s Aichhar village branch in Greater Noida are under scrutiny after at least 16 account holders, most of them farmers from Viroondi Chakrasenpur, Bironda, Aichhar and Site 4 areas, submitted police complaints accusing them of embezzling fixed deposits (FDs) worth an estimated Rs 35 crore.The bank suspended five staffers, including the branch manager, and initiated an internal probe. Its Aichhar branch has remained closed since Tuesday as several account holders, who lost anywhere between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1.2 crore, gathered outside it demanding that their money be reimbursed. In complaints submitted at Sector Beta 2 police station, the account holders alleged that bank staff had prematurely closed their FDs and transferred the money to other accounts without authorisation. Some alleged that fraudulent withdrawals were made from their accounts and incorrect entries were subsequently recorded in their passbooks.One of the complainants, Vineet Bhati of Jai Shiv Transport, approached the police station on Tuesday after Rs 25 lakh was allegedly diverted from his account. Bhati, who holds an account with the bank, said he had recently approached the branch seeking advice on mutual fund investment. He said he signed a cheque and relevant documents on the branch manager’s direction.Bhati alleged that instead of transferring the money to his savings account, the branch staffers sent it to a different account, allegedly held by a person with the same name. He said he visited the branch, flagged the error and requested officials to credit the sum to his account.The staffers initially assured him that the amount would be refunded within a day or two. On Oct 26, however, he was told that the bank was assessing the matter and the money would be credited once the probe was over. Bhati then filed a police complaint and submitted a clip of his conversation with a branch employee.On Wednesday, police registered an FIR under BNS Section 316(5) (criminal breach of trust) against the PNB branch staffers at Sector Beta 2 police station. The FIR clubs 16 complaints and was lodged after Shrichand, a resident of Viroondi Chakrasenpur village in Surajpur, alleged that Rs 1.16 crore was embezzled from his FD linked to his account at the Aichhar branch.
PNB Aichhar branch account holders and members of farmers’ organisation staged a sit-in on Tuesday
Of the other complaints in the FIR, one is by Gautam of Sector Pi, who said his father had around Rs 94 lakh in his bank account. When Gautam visited the branch on Oct 26 to withdraw Rs 50,000, he allegedly found that only Rs 16,000 remained. He sought an explanation from the bank but did not get a satisfactory response.Another account holder, Sanjay, alleged that an FD worth around Rs 10 lakh had been prematurely closed and the money transferred to another account. Hanif alleged that around Rs 39 lakh had been withdrawn from his account.According to a complaint filed by one Kartari, Rs 98,700 and Rs 6.9 lakh were diverted from two of his FDs. Amichand, another account holder, alleged that Rs 10.3 lakh was diverted from his FD. More than Rs 1 crore each was allegedly diverted from the accounts of Vijay Pal and Subhash too. Approximately Rs 1.18 crore was allegedly diverted from the account of Santosh, and Rs 76 lakh from that of Saroj. Another complaint alleged that Rs 88 lakh was withdrawn from the account of Bijendra Singh, along with Rs 25 lakh from his FDs.Additional DCP (Greater Noida) Santosh Kumar told TOI that an ACP has been directed to lead inquiries into the incident. Further investigation will be undertaken based on the findings. Cops said the total amount involved and the number of affected accounts could be ascertained only after the probe.PNB’s lead bank manager (Gautam Budh Nagar) Ram Vinod Kumar said, “Information about the matter is being collected. Appropriate action will be taken as per the rules after the investigation.”On Tuesday, several people gathered outside the PNB branch and staged a protest against the staff, demanding that their money be returned. A resident of Bironda, who claimed to have lost nearly 1.2 crore, said his mother holds an account at the same branch. “My mother received around Rs 1.3 crore in compensation in a Narendra Modi International Airport land deal. We withdrew Rs 10-20 lakh earlier. But now, Rs 1.2 crore has disappeared from the account. We only found out after relatives alerted us about the irregularities at the bank. The bank has assured us that it will return the money in 10-15 days. We will also approach the police,” he said.Another protester told TOI that the bank staff were all missing on Tuesday to evade answering account holders. “We have filed complaints with the police and want our money back,” he said.The Bharatiya Kisan Union (Krishak), meanwhile, claimed the suspected embezzlement could amount to Rs 130-150 crore and demanded a high-level, impartial investigation. The union warned of a protest if its demands were not met.
