Flower vendor finds Rs 30 cr in zero-balance account

Surprised to see Rs 30 crore deposited in her bank account by unknown persons, a 30-year-old woman from Channapatna has approached the police, urging a thorough investigation and wants the money handed over to the government. In her complaint to the Channapatna police, Rehana Banu, a resident of Beedi Colony in Channapatna, said some unknown persons had wired Rs 29.99 crore to her savings account in State Bank of India.

She and her husband Sayed Mallik Buran alias Imran have been urging the officials to investigate the source of the money and take action against the people who tried misusing the account. Since no action was taken after two months, the couple decided to publicise the matter through the media and bring it to a conclusion.

Rehana opened the account in 2015 when Jan Dhan Yojana was announced. She had zero balance in the account ever since. On December 2, a bank official visited them at home with the news that they have received a large sum of money. The official asked them to visit the bank with their Aadhaar card and withdraw the money.

When Rehana visited the bank, a woman official told her she did not receive money and wanted her to sign three forms, saying it was a zero-balance account application. But Rehana refused to sign the forms, and the official threatened to call the police.

Also Read: NRI woman loses Rs 1.67 crore; said to be Karnataka’s biggest online fraud

The official then asked the couple if they had shared their bank account details with someone in Delhi. Imran revealed that he had ordered a sari online and had received a call from someone saying they had won an SUV and wanted them to deposit Rs 6 lakh as insurance.

The couple refused the car, saying they were poor and asked the person to give them some money instead. Despite noting down the account details, the person did not contact Rehana again. Suspecting something wrong, Imran checked the balance in his account in an ATM kiosk and discovered that he had an enormous deposit. He checked the balance in a different ATM just to verify that the amount in his account was real. The couple approached the bank to get a statement, but officials said their account had been seized. Ever since, the couple have been urging the police and income tax officials to probe the large deposit, but they did not take the couple seriously.

In a final effort, Imran spoke to the police superintendent in Ramanagara, who sent a policeman with him to verify the presence of the large sum and registered a case. Imran told DH that the government should take over the money and reward them for being honest. Imran and Rehana are flower vendors and have two children. Imran has health issues that require surgery.

Recently, an unidentified person contacted Imran claiming that he had wired the money to Rehana’s account. He wanted Imran to give him Rs 15 crore and keep the rest.

The police suspect online fraudsters have misused the account and are tracing the man who contacted Imran.