Malda: In a shocking incident, several bank customers lost lakhs of rupees from their accounts without sharing any OTP or confidential information. The affected customers, frustrated by the lack of resolution, staged a protest at the bank branch on Wednesday evening, demanding refunds. The incident took place at a private bank in Maliur, located in the Harishchandrapur-II
block of Malda district.
According to reports, Mohammad Piarul Islam, a resident of Purba Belsur village, lost Rs 4 lakh; Ishak Ali from Dumuria lost Rs 1.15 lakh and Abdur Rahman, the husband of Mosammed Setara Khatun, the head of Maliur I Gram Panchayat, lost Rs 4,48,800. These victims had been reporting the issue to the bank manager for months — some for two months, others for four — but received no satisfactory response. Frustrated by inaction, they gathered at the bank and staged a protest against the manager. Local police from Harishchandrapur station arrived at the scene to control the situation. Sources indicate that these customers have maintained accounts at the private bank for several years and have conducted transactions without issues in the past. The victims claim that they never shared OTPs, personal messages, or banking details with anyone. Despite this, substantial sums vanished from their accounts suddenly. The mysterious disappearances have instilled fear among other customers of the bank, who are now questioning the security of their deposits.
Islam, a victim, said: “We are daily wage earners and can’t afford our hard earned and saved money to be frozen for a long time.” Following complaints to the cyber police, the bank refunded partial amounts to two affected customers. However, the remaining funds have not been reimbursed and the bank has allegedly frozen their accounts, preventing further transactions.
The victims and other concerned customers are demanding a thorough investigation and full reimbursement of the lost funds. Meanwhile, police and cyber crime officials have initiated an inquiry into the matter to determine how such unauthorised withdrawals took place without OTP verification. Sanjib Mandal, manager of the bank, said: “The process is taking time. We are trying our best to serve the customers.”