Fake SBI branch dupes villagers in bold 10-day scam in Chhattisgarh

In an audacious scam, a group of fraudsters set up a fake State Bank of India (SBI) branch in the village of Chhapora in Sakti district, Chhattisgarh, and duped local villagers out of lakhs of rupees.

Located just 250 kilometers from the state capital, Raipur, six individuals transformed a modest establishment into a convincing replica of an SBI branch within 10 days. They equipped the facility with cash counters, paperwork, and new furniture to create an authentic appearance, reported NDTV.

Villagers were invited to open accounts and conduct transactions, with many believing they had secured reliable employment at the new branch. The scam began to unravel when the manager of an actual SBI branch in nearby Dabra grew suspicious. On September 27, police and SBI officials arrived, exposing the fraud.

Rajesh Patel, a senior police official, revealed that three of the individuals involved in the scam have been identified: Rekha Sahu, Mandir Das, and Pankaj. The mastermind behind the operation provided counterfeit documents and fake job titles, even training the recruits to maintain the illusion of a legitimate bank. Employees were charged between 2-6 lakh rupees as a fee in exchange for promises of future lucrative jobs.

Ajay Kumar Agarwal, a local villager who had applied for an SBI kiosk in Chhapora, became wary of the new branch that had appeared overnight. He alerted the nearest legitimate SBI branch in Dabra, leading to the discovery that no such branch code existed.

The fraudsters primarily targeted unemployed individuals from various districts, including Korba, Balod, Kabirdham, and Sakti. Jyoti Yadav, one of the employees, reported to NDTV that she was promised a salary of 30,000 rupees after submitting all her documents and biometric data. Another employee, Sangeeta Kanwar, shared that she was initially asked for 5 lakh rupees but negotiated down to 2.5 lakh rupees, with a promised salary of 30-35,000 rupees.

This bold scam underscores the need for vigilance and verification to protect against such fraudulent activities.