In an incident of alleged bank fraud, several lakhs of money disappeared from a number of accounts of the Manipur Bagan branch of the Assam Gramin Vikash Bank (AGVB) in Hailakandi district. The incident triggered panic among the customers.

The matter came to light when a depositor went to liquidate her fixed deposits. Speaking to media persons, the account holder said, “The manager Manilal Chauhan checked our records and said that there was no fixed deposit in my name.”

Shocked over the disappearance of money from the account and the manager’s reply, she further said, “It means the copy provided by the bank was forged and the signature of the manager was also forged. I want my hard earning money back.”

The incident created an uproar among the account holders of the branch. Later, police were called in to bring the situation under control. However, the bank officials were not available for comments in the matter.

The AGVB, regional rural bank, was launched on January 12^th, 2006 by amalgamation of Pragjyotish Gaonlia Bank, Lakhimi Gaonlia Bank, Cachar Gramin Bank and Subansiri Gaonlia Bank. The bank has 414 branches currently across the 33 districts of the state.

Photo: Bidhan Sen