3 ‘tech-savvy’ men helped retd manager steal from co-op bank: Lucknow Police
The police’s cybercrime team has gained access to the CCTV footage from bank headquarters in Hazratganj, in which the three men could be seen.
LUCKNOW: Apart from a retired manager, three ‘tech-savvy’ youngsters are also suspected to have hacked into the server of Uttar Pradesh Cooperative Bank (UPCB) and tried to steal ₹146 crore from the bank on Saturday. The police’s cybercrime team has gained access to the CCTV footage from bank headquarters in Hazratganj, in which the three men could be seen.
The retired bank manager, RS Dubey, and one of his associates, Ganga Sagar Chauhan, were already in police custody and being quizzed about their involvement in the crime. The police, however, were yet to ascertain how the accused got access to the bank’s passwords and other data that they used to make financial transactions. The three youngsters seen in the footage were suspected to have provided technical support in the crime.
Cybercrime cell senior superintendent of police (SSP) Triveni Singh said experts were working to trace the IP address of the system that was used to access the bank’s server and transferred money to other bank accounts in tranches, one of which was reportedly executed.
The SSP said the three men, who are apparently tech-savvy, spotted in the CCTV footage helped the retired manager in accessing the bank’s server and transfer money to two accounts in private banks.
Singh said Dubey had, so far, revealed some crucial information but is unable to tell how the system was hacked and details of the bank were compromised.
On Tuesday, ten bank officials and employees, including two general manager- rank officials, were suspended after preliminary inquiry of the incident. A press note issued by the bank said general manager-rank officers Ashok Kumar and KD Pathak of non-agricultural and finance wings, deputy general manager (non-agricultural) Rajnath Singh, assistant general manager (finance) Vivek Singh, manager (non-agricultural) Mewa Lal, manager (general) Ajay Kumar, assistant manager (RTGS cell) Ajay Kumar, cashier Vikas Pandey, section officer Dhruvraj and security guard Vijay Bahadur Maurya were suspended.
On Saturday afternoon, the bank’s server was breached and ₹72 crore was siphoned off. However, the withdrawal was detected in time and the account was frozen.
