Punjab cabbie turns billionaire for a day; gets Rs 98 billion in account

Barnala, November 30

A taxi driver in Barnala city of Punjab was shocked beyond words when he turned billionaire for a day as huge sum of money was transferred into his account.

Cash amounting to Rs 98 billion was transferred in the account of Balwinder Singh on November 4, four days ahead of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi announcement of abolishing high-value bank notes.

However, the amount was deducted from his account the very next day.

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Since then, Singh has visited all branches of his bank in the city to end the suspense on the mysterious transaction, but is still dissatisfied as no bank employee is willing to clear the air about the episode.

 “I am not satisfied with what the bank manager is telling me about the amount that has been transferred in my account. Bank manager is telling it is not their fault so I am not satisfied with it,” said Singh on Tuesday.

Singh has also accused the bank of taking his passbook and issuing a new one without entering the amount credit and subsequent debit.

Income Tax Officer Kapil Kishore said statements of the bank employees were being recorded to probe the matter.

 “The bank account holder said that he has no connection with the transferred amount. It is the responsibility of the bank manager to investigate how such a huge amount was transferred. The driver has also mentioned in his application that the bank has asked him to submit his passbook. We will check the bank records after taking permission from the bank and our higher authorities. We will also record the bank manager's statement and conduct investigations based on all facts,” said Kishore. —ANI