Police in Greater Noida have registered a case against employees of Punjab National Bank after 20 account holders alleged that around Rs 17 crore was withdrawn from their accounts without authorisation at the bank’s branch in Aichhar, Pai-1. The case was registered at the Beta-2 police station on the basis of complaints from the affected customers.
Beta-2 station house officer Vinod Kumar said the FIR was registered after the account holders approached the police. The customers alleged that bank employees acted in collusion to withdraw money from their accounts and transfer it to other accounts without their consent.
According to the report, the disputed funds were transferred through six accounts. By the time the six accounts were frozen, the money had allegedly been moved into other accounts. A bank official said eight people had been suspended in connection with the matter, while investigation teams from Mumbai and Noida were examining the transactions.
The account holders have alleged that the irregularities began in 2025 and primarily involved fixed deposits. Their allegation is that fixed deposits were prematurely closed and the proceeds transferred elsewhere. Sources cited in the report said a significant portion of the money was sent to two banks in Goa and Jharkhand. These claims are part of the investigation and have not been independently established in the supplied report.
The report also said customers alleged that system-based transaction alerts had been disabled so that they would not receive messages about the withdrawals. The account holders further raised questions about the role of a woman employee identified as Jyoti and her brother, alleging that they tried to pacify customers who approached the branch with complaints. The allegations have not been adjudicated.
The bank branch serves a densely populated area with more than 50 housing societies, over 10 villages and several sectors around it. After news of the alleged fraud emerged, hundreds of customers reportedly began visiting the branch to check their accounts and lockers. The concentration of customers in the branch’s service area has increased the immediate demand for account-level verification and information from the bank.
Customers staging a protest outside the branch have claimed that the total amount involved could exceed Rs 100 crore, substantially higher than the approximately Rs 17 crore linked to the 20 complaints cited by police. The larger figure remains an allegation by protesters and was not confirmed by police or the bank in the supplied report.
The case has also drawn the involvement of farmer organisation leaders and workers, who began a sit-in seeking action and the return of customers’ money. The police investigation and the bank’s internal inquiry are expected to establish the number of affected accounts, the total amount involved, the transaction trail and the responsibility of individuals or systems connected to the alleged withdrawals.
