KOZHIKODE: In Vadakara, several bank account holders complained that money was withdrawn from their accounts without their knowledge. Twelve people have already lodged complaints at the Vadakara police station. Over Rs 1,85,000 was lost from their accounts. An engineering student and resident of Meppayil in Vadakara, Aparnna Kalaripparambathu lost Rs 20,000, her scholarship amount, on Saturday. An unidentified person withdrew Rs 10,000 twice from her SBI account at 3.55 pm on Saturday.
The message came on the mobile that the money was withdrawn through the ATM card. Aparnna lodged a complaint with Vadakara police. Later, more people who lost money in the same circumstances came forward with complaints. “We have been receiving similar complaints of people losing money from their bank accounts since Saturday.
Till Wednesday, the police received 12 such cases and all incidents occurred in recent days. One of the petitioners, Aparnna says that she didn’t share ATM PIN with anyone. From our primary investigation, it has been learned that all the withdrawals were done from northern states like UP and Delhi. A special squad, including cyber specialists, has been set up to investigate these cases. We have directed the victims to change their ATM PIN,” said Sushanth K S, SHO, Vadakara police station.
In Vadakara Puthiyappumala, Rs 40,000 was lost from the SBI account of a person named Thomas M. In his case, the culprits withdrew Rs 10,000 four times. The Vadakara police have registered these cases under Section 420 of IPC. SBI officials said the bank’s cyber unit had launched an investigation into complaints filed by two account holders at its Angaditheru branch.