Man loses Rs. 20,000 at ATM without withdrawing it

When Satish Pratap Singh, a supervisor at the reservation counter at the Bangalore City Railway Station, went to withdraw cash from the SBI ATM kiosk on the station premises a few days ago, he did not find anything amiss. But, seconds after leaving the ATM kiosk with Rs. 1,000 in cash that he had withdrawn, Mr. Singh received an SMS alert for not only the Rs. 1,000 he had drawn, but also another Rs. 20,000.

Shocked by this, Mr. Singh checked the debit card, presuming that he had lost it and someone may have misused it. But, to his surprise the card was intact with him. He immediately called the bank and lodged a complaint.

The bank’s customer care went through his complaint and replied to him that Rs. 20,000 had indeed been withdrawn from the same ATM counter after he had drawn Rs, 1,000. The bank authorities advised him to file a police complaint and offered to provide him with the CCTV footage of the ATM kiosk to identify the person who had withdrawn the amount.

In his complaint to the railway police, Mr. Singh said that he went to withdraw Rs. 1,000 from his salary account to book a ticket for his relative.

When he entered the kiosk, Mr. Singh recalled that a man present there told him that he was unable to withdraw money and asked him (Mr. Singh) to try his luck.

Mr. Singh withdrew cash and left the kiosk even as the man was still inside the kiosk.

The police had also not readily accepted Mr. Singh’s complaint. They had initially sent him back stating that he was lying. “The police initially told me that I myself had withdrawn the money and was trying to fool them. I challenged them to verify with the CCTV footage and arrest me if I am guilty,” Mr. Singh told The Hindu .

The police finally agreed to take his complaint after Mr. Singh asked one of his relatives, who works in the Central Bureau of Investigation, for recommendation. But despite registering a complaint, the police have not initiated any enquiry.

The police, however, said that they were awaiting the bank to provide them the CCTV footage.