Kalimpong, July 24: A former jawan today filed a complaint with the District Consumer Disputes Redresal Forum against the State Bank of India (SBI) for failing to pay him the Rs 1.23 lakh that was withdrawn from his account in an ATM fraud case.
In his petition, Bijay Baraily urged the Forum to direct the SBI to pay him the entire amount with nine per cent interest and an additional Rs 10,000 as compensation for causing him and his ailing wife mental harassment, apart from legal expenses.
Baraily said despite repeated reminders, the bank failed to return the money that was withdrawn from his account by his namesake and one-time neighbour Bijay Baraily, alias Robin, and two of his accomplices earlier this year. The trio were later arrested. Robin had withdrawn the money by using Baraily’s ATM card that was wrongly delivered to the accused man’s address. The former jawan has argued that the entire episode could have been avoided had the bank verified Robin’s signature as laid down under banking procedures.
Baraily said he discovered the fraud on May 13 while updating his passbook. “The SBI, Kalimpong, is entirely responsible for all the withdrawals through an ATM card by an impersonator whose identity was not verified by the bank. The bank, because of its own negligence, issued an ATM card to a third party without verification,” he alleged.
Baraily said he was forced to approach the Forum since the bank authorities had turned a deaf ear to his repeated pleas. “I am a retired person and was in the process of constructing a house when the fraud took place. Not only has my house remained incomplete because of the lack of funds, I am also finding it difficult to pay the medical expenses of my ailing wife,” he added.
Sushanta Chakraborty, the chief manager of SBI’s Kalimpong branch, said the bank was sympathetic towards Baraily, but nothing could be done till the case against Robin ended.
The Kalimpong Consumers’ Association is confident that Baraily will receive a favourable verdict. “The man is suffering for no fault of his,” said Praful Rao, the KCA secretary.
The former rifleman of Eastern Frontier Rifles retired last year and opened the SBI account on January 28 this year with Rs 1,500.
In the course of the next few months, Baraily deposited his entire retirement benefit of Rs 4 lakh in the account. Once he got hold of the card, the accused, a peon in a local school, and his two accomplices, withdrew the amount in phases between April 9 and May 13, when the fraud was discovered.
By RAJEEV RAVIDAS
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