Bank manager on the run after stealing clients’ crores: Mohali police

The accused, identified as Gaurav, 35, changed the phone numbers of the account holders before transferring their money to other accounts to avoid alerting them, as per Mohali police

The manager of a private bank in Bansepur, Mullanpur, is on the run after allegedly stealing crores from customers’ accounts, police said on Wednesday.

The matter came to fore after the bank manager didn’t turn up for work for several days. (HT FILE)

The accused, identified as Gaurav, 35, changed the phone numbers of the account holders before transferring their money to other accounts to avoid alerting them, said an investigator, adding that bank officials had been told to get the accounts used for the unauthorised transfers freezed to retrieve the customers’ money.

The matter came to fore after the bank manager didn’t turn up for work for several days.

A local villager, who has an account in the bank, had been making rounds of the bank for the past month to get his passbook updated, but was turned away by the manager each time, citing a fault with the machine.

When the villager eventually got his bank statement from another branch, he was shocked to find his balance significantly depleted and some unauthorised transfers to other accounts.

On reaching the Bansepur branch, he learnt that the manager had not been reporting to work and could also not be contacted.

The victim contacted other account holders, who also discovered huge deductions from their accounts. One of the customers, residing in Omaxe Society, Mullanpur, claimed that ₹80 lakh were missing from his account.

After receiving multiple complaints, police contacted the bank officials and even raided the manager’s rented accommodation in the aforesaid society. “His flat was locked. We contacted the property owner and checked the rent agreement, which was genuine, but the manager is missing,” a cop said.

Meanwhile, Mullanpur DSP Dharamvir Singh said, “We have received a complaint from the bank officials and will book Gaurav for cheating and fraud. We are working to ascertain the exact quantum of the fraud.”