Overview
- Customers discovered sharply reduced balances and empty fixed deposits at the bank's Sector Pi‑1 branch and gathered at the branch in protest, prompting multiple police complaints and an FIR at Beta‑02 on Wednesday.
- Account holders and reports differ on the scale of the loss with police citing more than Rs 16 crore from about 18 complainants while other accounts put the aggregate at roughly Rs 35 crore as more people came forward.
- Victims include villagers who say the missing money came from land‑compensation payments for the Jewar airport project, leaving some families facing sudden financial distress and cancelled plans.
- Complainants allege bank staff prematurely closed FDs and moved funds without their signatures or SMS alerts, claims that have prompted PNB to suspend several employees including the branch manager and launch an internal anti‑corruption probe.
- Officials have involved the EOW to trace the transaction trail and recover funds and the case could prompt closer scrutiny of branch controls, customer‑notification systems and how banks handle passbook or audit requests.