The driver of a 93-old-old retired air vice marshal of the Indian Air Force (IAF) has been arrested for allegedly siphoning off Rs 8 lakh from his bank account after stealing his cellphone.
Police on Friday arrested Rakesh Chandra Bachhar, 30, originally from Hasnabad in North 24-Parganas, who had been staying in the garage of a house in Salt Lake's Sector I.
Bachhar was arrested after Samir Roy, the retired air vice marshal, who stays in Salt Lake, too, came to know after getting his passbook updated that Rs 8 lakh had been missing from his bank account.
Salt Lake has a sizable number of elderly residents, many of whom entrust their household help and drivers with banking activities.
Bachhar knew the UPI ID and the password of Roy's bank account, an officer in the Bidhannagar commissionerate said.
According to the officer, Bachhar had stolen Roy's cellphone that had the SIM whose number was linked to his bank account. "The complainant's phone in his possession, Bachhar made multiple transfers from his employer's account to a couple of his accounts," the officer said.
"He made transfers through the mobile banking app and a wallet using the UPI password. As he had the complainant's cellphone, he easily stole the money within a span of 10 days…. The elderly man did not suspect anything as the SMS alerts were sent to the phone that Bachhar had stolen," the officer said.
Roy discovered the theft after he got his passbook updated. The update showed that multiple transfers had been made from his account between July 14 and 23, of which he was unaware.
He then lodged a complaint with the Salt Lake cyber crime police station.
The cops zeroed in on Bachhar after tracking the money trail. Bachhar in the meantime had quit driving for Roy citing family issues.
"He had switched off his cellphone…. Once we were sure that he was the one who had stolen Roy's money, we… arrested Bachhar,” said the officer.
