GUWAHATI, July 14: A senior official of a leading PSU bank has been arrested for siphoning off Rs 26 lakh from the account of a retired DIG of Assam Police, an official said on Sunday.
Guwahati police commissioner Diganta Barah said 84-year-old Bhabadhar Dutta, a former DIG, had lodged a complaint at Dispur police station last month stating that an amount of Rs 26 lakh was unauthorisedly transferred from his account at Barbari branch of the bank on several dates to numerous other bank accounts without his consent or knowledge.
“Initial investigation revealed that the transactions were made mainly to three persons. On examination of those persons, they disclosed that one particular person, who was the then branch manager, made those transactions,” he added.
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The accused was currently posted as a deputy manager of the bank’s Specialised Currency Administration Branch at Dispur and he allegedly made those transactions through internet banking.
“Based on their statements, the accused has been apprehended. He revealed during interrogation that he had been, for a long time, targeting inoperative accounts for fraudulent and unauthorised use,” Barah said.
In this case, he found that there was no registered mobile number linked with the bank account of the victim and the account was not in use for the last three years.
“In furtherance of that, he took the assistance of another person, who has also been arrested, to arrange a SIM card and a used mobile phone. They got the number registered with the bank account of the victim, and created a user ID and password without the knowledge of the account holder.
“It was only when the complainant updated the bank passbook, he came to know about the unauthorised transactions,” Barah said.
He said that the accused confessed to targeting bank accounts that had not been operative for a long time and had huge amounts deposited.
“In this case, the complainant was 84 years old and was not using the particular bank account for the last three years. It made the accused presume that the user of the account might have passed away. Accordingly, he hatched the entire conspiracy,” the police commissioner said.
The accused has revealed that from the account of the victim, he cleared all his liabilities, which he owed to others, through internet banking.
Barah said the bank employee also invested some amount in trading in the stock market and purchased cryptocurrency.
“In this manner, he misappropriated a total of around Rs 26 lakh from the account of the complainant. It has also been revealed that the accused, in a similar manner, targeted several victims, for which investigation is underway to gather more information,” he added. (PTI)
