Around Rs 35 crore is alleged to have gone missing from savings accounts and fixed deposits at a Punjab National Bank branch in the Aichhar area of Greater Noida, with customers claiming that they neither authorised the transactions nor received alerts before their balances fell. The allegations have led to a police investigation and the suspension of several bank employees, including the branch manager.
The affected accounts include money held by families who received compensation for land acquired for development in the Greater Noida region. Customers have approached the bank seeking clarity on how funds were transferred or withdrawn and whether the money can be recovered. The exact route taken by the allegedly missing funds has not yet been established.
Haneef Khan, one of the affected account holders, told PTI that his savings account had contained Rs 39 lakh but was now showing no balance. “I neither received any message nor signed any document authorising the transfer of funds,” he said.
Another customer, farmer Vijendra Singh, told reporters that his account had earlier held between Rs 87 lakh and Rs 88 lakh. He said the balance had fallen to around Rs 1 lakh. Singh had received the money as compensation from the authorities.
A separate case involves Santosh, a 60-year-old tea and samosa vendor from Bironda village. According to The Indian Express, her account had received Rs 1.29 crore in compensation for land acquired for the Jewar Airport project. Her family later found that Rs 1.18 crore was missing, the report said. Her son discovered the issue while attempting to withdraw money.
The reported losses have affected both savings accounts and fixed deposits. Zakir, another account holder, alleged that Rs 9.5 lakh had disappeared from his account and said he received no text message about the transactions. He told reporters that he learnt about the alleged fraud only after visiting the branch.
The complaints have raised questions about transaction authorisation, account safeguards and customer alerts. However, the investigation is still underway, and the circumstances in which the money allegedly disappeared have not been fully established.
PNB management suspended several employees following the complaints, including the branch manager. A case has been registered at the Beta-2 police station, which has jurisdiction over the branch. Police said the investigation was continuing, while bank management assured authorities that it would address the complaints of affected account holders.
For families whose accounts contained land-acquisition compensation, the alleged losses involve funds intended to provide financial security after the transfer of their land. The next steps are expected to depend on the police investigation and the bank’s examination of the disputed transactions and account records.
