Greater Noida: Prem Singh had just returned from Vaishno Devi Wednesday morning, when he found out most of his neighbours in his Birondi village in Greater Noida had lost all the compensation money they got from the Uttar Pradesh government for land for the Jewar Airport.
He and his son immediately rushed to the Aicher Market branch of the Punjab National Bank (PNB). After speaking to bank employees, he was shocked. Around Rs 18 lakh of his savings in fixed deposits were gone. He had received no SMS, no bank alert, he signed no document, but the money was gone. Prem Singh completely broke down.
All that was left was Rs 26,000. Prem Singh wasn’t the only one. Over two dozen people, primarily farmers, have complained to the Gautam Buddha Nagar Police regarding an “alleged fraud” after they discovered their bank accounts and fixed deposits at the same branch were “emptied”.
For three days now, the aggrieved villagers have been protesting outside the PNB branch. The police have registered an FIR and investigation has begun.
A senior police officer in Greater Noida’s Gautam Buddha Nagar told ThePrint: “The total comes to 28 people, and Rs 20 crore is now missing.”
Another senior police officer told ThePrint the police are still collecting evidence. “More people are coming forward and reporting that their money has gone missing. The bank is also doing an enquiry,” said the officer.
ThePrint reached has reached out to PNB for a response. If and when a response is received, this report will be updated.
‘What will the poor do?’
Prem Singh, a farmer, had to sell his plot of land for the construction of Jewar Airport, and was paid Rs 18-19 lakh in compensation.
Looking at some bank documents, the father and son were trying to understand the transactions made in the last few months, transactions for which they did not get any bank alerts, even when there were withdrawals of lakhs.
“Where did this Rs 10 lakh go? And this Rs 20,000? Let me mark this papa, check the date September 26, what was this transaction?” his son, Jitender, tells Prem Singh, who nods in confusion.
“I found out this morning that so many people lost their money, I had not imagined I would lose everything I had… I had invested all my money here at this branch for years, I trusted them…” Prem Singh told ThePrint.
The farmer had kept the compensation money to build a house for his five-member family. “We had begun construction, and some amount of money was already paid. But, now, I have nothing left to pay. How am I going to pay the workers? The construction will have to stop… I don’t know if I will be able to make a house for my family,” Prem Singh says breaking down.
“I didn’t get any message. There are so many transactions… I didn’t get any warning…” he says.
His name has not been included in the FIR filed Wednesday. Now, Singh and many others who found out about the alleged fraud will report the matter to the police.
A passbook not enough
Birjesh Kumar, also from Birondi, has a samosa shop. He too was planning to build a house, but has now lost Rs 1.18 crore.
“The day before yesterday, we had come to withdraw the money. We were to give Rs 10 lakh to the contractor. When we came here (bank) and checked, all the money was gone. There was zero balance,” Kumar told ThePrint.
He said, since they had an account at the bank for years, they had trusted it with their compensation money which came around four months ago.
Kumar walked around the PNB branch with his passbook, trying to make sense of the many transactions that were not recorded.
“Is this passbook not enough?” he asks, while multiple farmers continue their protest outside the branch.
Kumar said, the demonstrations would continue. “We have only two demands—the money be returned and the accused involved be arrested. Someone wants to get his daughter married. Someone wants to build a house. Everyone is concerned. Someone has hospital bills to pay,” Kumar said.
‘Son’s wedding in weeks’
Another farmer, Ram Kishore, is very worried. He had saved around Rs 18 lakh over the past two years for his son’s wedding on 1 December, and put it in a fixed deposit in the PNB branch, along with the compensation he received from the government. Now his account has only Rs 35,000. “I needed the money for some urgent payment, so I decided to break the fixed deposit, but I found I had almost nothing!”
“We’re all under immense stress. I haven’t eaten. How do I get my child married? They are not listening to us. There is so much corruption. The bank told us the staff has been suspended but how does that help us?” the farmer asks despondently.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
Also read: Fixed deposits, bank accounts emptied: Greater Noida villagers allege Rs 16 cr PNB fraud, FIR lodged