Shillong, March 28: Police in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district arrested a man for withdrawing money from a woman’s bank account that had been “erroneously” connected to his Aadhaar number two years ago.
Jeetrai Samant, a 42-year-old beedi worker, was arrested by police, after he refused to repay the money and failed to show up when summoned in connection with the case.
Two years ago, when the Covid pandemic struck, Samant first learnt about the money through a Common Service Center. These centres are physical facilities for delivery of the government’s public services, welfare schemes to rural and remote locations.
Shrimati Laguri complained to the management of Jharkhand Rajya Gramin Bank in September 2022 that money was being debited from her account. Samant was requested to repay the funds once the authorities realised there had been a mistake with the Aadhaar linkage.
Due to his failure to comply, an FIR was filed against him in October at the Muffasil police station under Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Criminal Code (IPC).
Police said Samant must have seen the account holder’s name during withdrawals, “but he chose to ignore that.”