For several families in Greater Noida, a routine visit to their bank branch turned into a shock that has since grown into a police case, suspensions inside the bank, and protests outside a shuttered branch.
Account holders of a Punjab National Bank branch in the Aichhar area say that nearly Rs 35 crore disappeared from their savings accounts and fixed deposits without their knowledge, and they insist that they neither authorised the transfers nor received any alert that their money had moved.
The complaints centre on the bank's branch in the Sector Pi-1 area of Aichhar village in Greater Noida. According to account holders and police officials, the alleged irregularities came to light when customers went to the branch to withdraw money or update their passbooks and discovered that large sums were missing. Some found that fixed deposits had been closed before maturity.
Others found that money had been moved into other accounts. A few reported incorrect entries in their passbooks. The branch has remained closed since Tuesday, with account holders gathering outside to demand answers and the return of their money.
Police have registered a case at the Beta-2 police station, which has jurisdiction over the branch, and an investigation is under way. The bank's management has suspended five employees, including the branch manager, and has launched an internal inquiry. Bank officials have assured the authorities that customers' complaints will be addressed.
The estimated figure of Rs 35 crore has been cited by customers in their complaints; the bank and the police have not officially confirmed the total amount involved, and the exact scale of the alleged irregularities is part of what the investigation must now establish.
The human details behind the complaints explain why the case has drawn so much attention. Vijendra Singh, a farmer, told reporters that his savings account had earlier held around Rs 87 to 88 lakh and now showed a balance of only Rs 1 lakh. He said the money included compensation he had received from the authorities, apparently linked to land acquired for development projects.
Haneef Khan, another account holder at the same branch, said his savings account had held Rs 39 lakh and that nothing was now showing in it. His words have become the defining line of the case: he said he had neither received any message about the transactions nor signed any document authorising the transfer of funds.
A third customer, Zakir, said about Rs 9.5 lakh had gone missing from his account and that he had received no text message from the bank about the transactions. He said he learnt about the alleged fraud only after visiting the branch in person. Other complainants, mostly farmers from areas including Viroondi Chakrasenpur, Bironda, Aichhar and Site 4, have reported individual losses ranging from about Rs 10 lakh to about Rs 1.2 crore.
At least 16 account holders have come forward so far, and more may emerge as the inquiry widens.
For many of these families, the money was not spare cash. Several customers had deposited compensation received for land acquired for development projects, including land linked to the Noida International Airport region. Such compensation often represents a once-in-a-lifetime payment for farming families, intended to support children's education, housing, and future financial security.
The discovery that it could vanish from a public sector bank account, without so much as a text alert, has shaken confidence far beyond the group of complainants. Local residents who bank at the same branch have begun checking their own balances, and members of a farmers' union staged a sit-in outside the branch, with police personnel deployed to maintain order.
Customers have also alleged delays and evasive answers when they sought their own account details. Several account holders claimed that when they approached bank staff to update their passbooks or obtain transaction details, they were told that an audit by the Reserve Bank of India was under way. That explanation, they say, did not satisfy them, and it added to their suspicion that something was seriously wrong.
The bank has not publicly addressed that specific allegation, and investigators will need to determine what customers were told, when, and by whom.
The mechanics of the alleged fraud remain under investigation, and it would be wrong to present any single explanation as established fact. What customers allege, in broad terms, is that fixed deposits were closed prematurely and the proceeds transferred to other accounts without their consent, and that some withdrawals were made fraudulently.
Whether the transfers involved forged signatures, misuse of internal systems, or collusion among staff is precisely what the police inquiry and the bank's internal investigation must determine. The suspension of five employees, including the branch manager, indicates that the bank itself treats the matter as serious, but suspension is an administrative step, not a finding of guilt, and the employees concerned have not been publicly named in the reports so far.
The case also raises wider questions about safeguards for depositors. Banks are expected to send transaction alerts, require customer authorisation for premature closure of fixed deposits, and maintain clear audit trails for every movement of funds. Customers say none of those protections worked for them: no messages arrived, no documents were signed, and passbook entries did not match reality.
If those claims are borne out, regulators and the bank will face difficult questions about how such transfers could pass through internal controls undetected, and for how long. If, on the other hand, the investigation finds a different explanation for some of the discrepancies, that too will need to be communicated clearly to customers who are currently living with deep uncertainty about their savings.
There is also the question of recovery. Customers have demanded the return of their money, and the bank has assured authorities that their complaints will be addressed. But the process of verifying each account, tracing each disputed transaction, and restoring funds where wrongdoing is established can take time, particularly when the number of affected accounts is still being counted.
For families who depend on that money, the waiting period itself is a hardship, and the protests outside the branch reflect that anxiety as much as anger.
The Greater Noida case arrives at a time when trust in banking systems is closely tied to everyday financial security for millions of households. Fixed deposits in particular are chosen by conservative savers, including farmers and retirees, precisely because they are supposed to be safe and predictable.
An allegation that such deposits could be closed early and diverted without the depositor's knowledge strikes at that basic expectation, and it is likely to prompt other customers across the region to scrutinise their own statements more closely.
For now, the established facts are these: customers allege that nearly Rs 35 crore is missing; five employees, including the branch manager, have been suspended; a police case has been registered at Beta-2 police station; the branch has been closed since Tuesday; and an investigation is under way. What remains to be established is the full list of affected accounts, the exact amount involved, the method used, and who, if anyone, is criminally responsible.
Until those answers emerge, the customers of Aichhar will continue to wait outside a closed branch for news of money they say they never agreed to move and never even knew had gone.
(Reporting based on NDTV, The Economic Times and The Hans India.)