New Delhi: Having spent decades serving top
positions in banks, a 95-year-old was in for a shock when Rs
23 lakh was found fraudulently withdrawn from his account.
The fraudulent withdrawal came to the notice of Gurbhajan
Singh Mann, who resides in the posh Tilak Marg area in the
capital, in July and he had approached police then but a case
was registered three days ago, a senior police official said.
Mann, who has served as Director of PSB and Bank of
Punjab, informed police that he had found that Rs 22.87 lakh
has been withdrawn from his account in Punjab National Bank`s
(PNB) Connaught Place branch without his knowledge.
The withdrawals came to light when he applied for a bank
statement and found that Rs 22.87 lakh was withdrawn from his
account with series of withdrawals between June 21 and 27, the
official said.
The money was withdrawn from branches outside Delhi also.
Mann told police the cheques used for these withdrawals
were of a series which he never received. He said he had
applied for a fresh cheque book in December last year but he
never got one.
In his complaint, Mann claimed he used to withdraw Rs
40,000 per month for the last so many years. But, he alleged,
"suddenly there were continuous withdrawal of huge amounts
which were from other branches, including outstation branches
and not noticed by the bank.
He also claimed that the signatures which appeared in the
cheques were not his.
The official said the registration of the case came
following a thorough investigation and the matter was
discussed with senior officials.
Investigators suspect that somebody managed to steal the
cheques from the bank and encashed it later.
"All angles are being investigated. We are probing
whether any bank employee was involved in the crime. We are
not ruling any possibility. Investigations are on," the
official said.
A case under sections 420 (cheating), 379 (theft), 120B
(criminal conspiracy), 467 (forgery of security papers), 468
(forgery for cheating) and 471 (using forged documents as
genuine) has been registered.
PTI
