In the past one year, several Central Industrial Security Force personnel and officers in the metro unit of the city have allegedly been victims to a specific kind of fraud. Thousands of rupees have been withdrawn from their bank accounts on the day their salaries are credited or on the next day.
It is not clear how many CISF men have been robbed. Those within the force claim there have been at least two dozen incidents, although it is feared the numbers may be higher.
The most recent development came on July 31, when four CISF men allegedly lost a major part of their salaries under the same circumstances. Three of them – SI Abinash and Constables Manoranjan Sahu and Rajasi Bai Gujjar – have filed police complaints at Roop Nagar police station in north Delhi. FIRs have been registered in all three cases.
Cases scattered
Sub Inspector Abinash lost ₹29,000 from his salary account in four transactions from a Shakti Nagar ATM while Constable Manoranjan lost ₹80,000 in two transactions of ₹40,000 each.
However, the CISF personnel were already familiar with the modus operandi and the nature of the alleged thefts.
According to information available with The Hindu, there are at least 15 more victims from the CISF. Their ATM cards were seemingly used to make the withdrawals. But in all these cases, the original ATM cards were with the owners.
While senior CISF officers were wary of saying there was any pattern, even spokesperson Manjit Singh acknowledged that there were four to five cases. The personnel, some of whom didn’t want to come on record, said that they do not always raise the issue with senior officers.
But there have been instances where they have and, in almost all cases, FIRs have been filed.
The similarities do not end there. Each one of the victims The Hindu could get access and speak to is posted with the metro unit of the CISF. The first case, according to information available, dates back to June 30 and July 1 last year, when a constable then posted in the Yello Line of DMRC lost ₹75,000.
The cases, however, are spread across Delhi and the home branch of the State Bank of India accounts the victims hold are also scattered, some of them even in Chandigarh and Jaipur. As for SI Abinash, his branch is in Kashmere Gate.
Demonetisation crunch
Speaking to The Hindu , Constable Pawan Singh who was targeted last November said: “Soon after my salary was credited on October 30, around midnight, ₹40,000 was debited from a south Delhi bank ATM while I was in north-west Delhi’s Puth Khurd. A few hours later another ₹40,000 was debited. That was the month demonetisation was announced and I found myself in a severe crunch,” he said. He added that little progress has been made into the FIR he got registered thereafter.
Another constable Cheki Sherpa, who lost ₹40,000, said she got a part of her money returned but was not sure if she had the police or the bank to thank. The SBI officials that The Hindu spoke to said they are probing the matter.
“The bank is already investigating the matter and suitable action will be taken keeping in mind the best interest of the customers. A committee has also been formed in Local Head Office to look into the pattern of these complaints and address such issues,” said an SBI spokesperson.
DCP Narwal said only further probe will tell if there is a pattern to the cases. DCP(Crime) Madhur Verma said it has come to the light that cloning had been the case in cards that were issued in bulk in the past. “Such cloning is possible during transit if the courier company or its employees are hand in glove,” said Mr. Verma.
