Bank compensates TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee's money stolen through cyber fraud

Kolkata | The money that was allegedly siphoned by fraudsters from Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee's dormant account with a nationalised bank earlier this week has been credited back to him by the bank authorities, the politician said.

The bank authorities could not be contacted for further comments on this transaction.

According to the police probing the crime, the fraudsters continue to remain at large.

Banerjee had claimed that Rs 57 lakh was siphoned from the account, which was linked to his previous tenure as a West Bengal MLA.

Police started a probe into the incident after a formal complaint was lodged by the bank authorities with the cybercrime section of Kolkata Police, an official said, adding that they were yet to arrest anyone in this regard.

"It is quite shocking... The account was opened when I was Asansol South MLA and remained dormant for several years after I became Serampore MP," Banerjee told PTI.

They superimposed my photograph and used fake Aadhaar and PAN cards to carry out the criminal activity, he claimed.

The miscreants also added a phone number to the account and all the OTPs and transaction details got diverted to them, he alleged.

"The criminals then transferred Rs 57 lakh to this dormant account from my active account and, subsequently, siphoned it off through multiple fraudulent transactions. If this can happen to an MP, what will be the condition of a common man? How come these people find out that I had such a significant amount of money in my account?" Banerjee asked.

"The bank authorities have now credited the amount to my account. But my concern is that the culprits are yet to be nabbed," he said.

Speaking to PTI, a senior officer of Kolkata Police said that investigation was on and they were going through the transactions and all other details.

"We are trying to find out the phone number used in the crime. CCTV footages are being checked as well," the officer added.