Ratna Das’s wedding card. A Telegraph picture

A groom has been accused by the bride and her mother of defrauding them of close to a lakh of rupees a day before the marriage ceremony, that has now been called off.

Ratna Das, 21, was to marry Balaram Das, 28, the Hindu way on Thursday. The two registered their marriage on February 17. The bride and her mother Chandana found out on April 11 that Rs 93,000 had been withdrawn from their joint account.

The bride’s family feels Balaram, a small-time trader, could be behind the fraud.

When the mother and daughter visited the Kadamtala branch of the United Bank of India last Friday and found the money gone, the employees told them that a new cheque book for their account had been issued against a copy of a missing diary — stating that the old cheque book could not be found. The complaint bore the signatures of Ratna and Chandana.

The bank officials produced the copy of the complaint but could not recollect who had submitted it and taken the new cheque book.

On March 18, Rs 11,000 (cheque No. 20261) was withdrawn in the morning and Rs 50,000 (cheque No. 20262) in the afternoon. The next day, Rs 32,000 (cheque No. 20263) was withdrawn. All the cheques are from the new cheque book. The first and the third were issued to B. Das and the second to B.R. Das.

Ratna said: “Our old cheque book is with us and we had not issued any cheque to B. Das or B.R. Das. The last cheque for Rs 35,000 was issued to Balaram (cheque No. 138816). The signatures on the missing diary are forged.”

Shyamalendu Saha, a senior manager of the branch, refused comment.

The family, from Ichhapur Canalside, in Purbapara, lodged an FIR with Bantra police station — allegedly after several attempts — on Wednesday.

Howrah police superintendent Niraj Kumar Singh said an investigation has been started.“We have no money to organise a wedding now. More importantly, we will not proceed with the marriage until the fraud is arrested. Our prime suspect is Balaram,” said Chandana.

Balaram, a resident of Satashi Sashtitala, is keen to go ahead with the wedding despite the charges levelled against him. “I suspect that Ratna’s elder brother Rakesh withdrew the money. But nobody is above suspicion, not even my wife,” he said.