42yrold ‘assisted’ by man in bank at Malad, loses ₹35K

MUMBAI:A 42-year-old woman was allegedly duped of ₹35,000 by a thief inside a branch of a private bank in Malad (West). The accused stole a bundle from the currency which the woman was carrying, on the pretext of assisting her to arrange the notes properly. After stealing the money, the man left the spot.

According to Malad police, the incident took place around 12.30pm last week, inside the bank at Liberty Garden. The complainant, Shagufta Shaikh, is a resident of Malwani. She wanted to deposit ₹1 lakh in the bank.

Shaikh was standing in the queue to deposit the money in the bank, when the accused came and stood in the line behind her. He then told Shaikh that she does not know how to hold the bundle and took the bundle from her at the pretext of arranging them properly. He then returned the bundle to her.

Shaikh then gave the money to the accountant on the counter. However, when the cash was put through in the counting machine, it was just ₹65,000. Shaikh then counted the money herself and realised that ₹35,000 were missing from the bundle she carried.

She suspected the man to have taken the money through sleight of hands while pretending to arrange the notes. She then complained to the bank officials, who checked the closed circuit television cameras.

One of the cameras captured the man removing of the notes and keeping it in his pocket. A case has been registered.