Shastri Nagar PNB customers fall prey to illegal ATM withdrawals

POLICE AND THE BANK BRANCH MANAGER SAID 14 PEOPLE HAD BEEN ALLEGEDLY CHEATED. A CASE HAS BEEN REGISTERED

NEW DELHI: Several residents of north Delhi’s Shastri Nagar, who hold accounts at a local branch of Punjab National Bank, woke up on Saturday morning to find that thousands of rupees has been allegedly withdrawn from their accounts via ATMS, police said.

The money ranged between ₹10,000 and ₹25,000 and all ATM transactions allegedly happened between 6 am and 9 am on Saturday.

Initially, each of them thought they were the only victims of the alleged fraud. “But when we visited the PNB branch on Monday to seek an explanation, we realised there were many like us, all from Shastri Nagar,” said one of the cheated men, Om Prakash, who is an information officer with the New Delhi Municipal Council.

Prakash said there were 20 victims, including some who did not wish to file a police complaint. But police and the bank branch manager said 14 people had been allegedly cheated.

Nupur Prasad, deputy commissioner of police (north), said a case of cheating was registered at Sarai Rohilla police station on Tuesday.

DK Shrivastava, manager of the PNB branch, said the case was simultaneously being probed by bank officials. “It is unlikely any bank employees were involved,” Shrivastava said.

Prakash said he and other residents realised they were duped when they received SMSES about the withdrawals. “Most withdrawals happened from ATMS in north Delhi. But my money was taken out in Okhla,” said Prakash.

Prakash alleged he was duped of ₹25,000, withdrawn in three instalments within three minutes. Like most others, the transactions happened too quickly for Prakash to react.

“All of us have got our cards blocked and filled “claim forms” provided to us at the bank branch,” said Prakash. The police said they have put cyber cell experts on the job.