Banker Flees With Rs.7 Lakh Intended For ATM

Mohali: While the rest of the country is waiting it out in serpentine queues without respite, holding on to their nerves and anxious whether they would make it to the cashier kiosk or ATM before the new currency runs out, a bank employee here ran away with almost Rs.7 lakh worth of the currency that he was supposed to load into the bank's ATM.

The incident occurred in Bankarpur village of Derabassi in Mohali district, on November 9, a day after the prime minister denounced the higher notes as legal tender.

Tej Pratap Singh Bhatia worked as an assistant manager in Punjab and Sind Bank. He was handed over the new currency totalling Rs.6.98 lakh and asked to supervise the loading of the cash in the Bank's ATM by the bank engineers and security personnel.

Bhatia however managed to the trick the bank saying he would meet the other personnel at the ATM and left the bank unaccompanied with the money. The engineers and security personnel who arrived at the ATM tried to contact Bhatia over his cellphone but found it to be switched off.

The bank waited till the evening of the following day before lodging a complaint with the Derabassi police.

The police who began to investigate the case assured the bank that the absconder would be soon arrested.