The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Kanpur Police has arrested four persons, including two women, in connection with a ₹1.42-crore fraud at the Maharajpur branch of Bank of India. The accused were produced before a court and sent to judicial custody, while the process to arrest seven bank employees named in the case remains pending due to the absence of prosecution sanction from the government.
According to investigators, the accused allegedly broke fixed deposits (FDs) of unsuspecting customers and diverted the funds into their own bank accounts. The fraud came to light following a detailed internal audit and complaint lodged in 2020, after which a criminal case was registered at Maharajpur police station.
Officials said a total of 11 people have been named as accused in the case, including seven employees of the bank. While four non-employee accused have now been arrested, the police have sought mandatory prosecution approval from the state government to proceed against the bank staff. “As soon as sanction is granted, the remaining accused will also be arrested and sent to jail,” an officer involved in the probe said.
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The case pertains to an alleged embezzlement of ₹1,42,71,000 from accounts held at the Maharajpur branch. Police registered offences under sections related to criminal breach of trust, cheating, forgery, use of forged documents as genuine, criminal conspiracy, and provisions of the Information Technology Act.
During the latest operation, the EOW team detained Mulayam Singh Yadav and Brijmohan Gupta from near Maharajpur police station. Based on their interrogation and disclosures, two women accused were also arrested later. Investigators said the arrests followed sustained technical analysis of bank transactions and scrutiny of account trails spanning several months.
Police revealed that Brijmohan Gupta allegedly used the position of his son, who was employed at the bank, to facilitate the fraud. “He would help customers open accounts and then, with inside access, fixed deposits were prematurely broken and the money routed to accounts controlled by the accused,” an official said. The funds were often withdrawn within hours to avoid detection.
Similarly, investigators found that large sums of the siphoned money were repeatedly credited to the account of Mulayam Singh Yadav and withdrawn within two to three hours. “The pattern clearly indicates coordinated planning and active collusion,” an officer said, adding that digital evidence, bank records and transaction logs have been secured as part of the case file.
The EOW said the role of each of the seven bank employees is under scrutiny and that departmental records have been seized. “This was not a one-off act. It was a systematic operation that exploited customer trust and internal banking processes,” an official said. The police have also recorded statements of several affected customers whose FDs were allegedly broken without their consent.
Officials confirmed that the investigation is still ongoing and that more arrests cannot be ruled out. The agency is also examining whether similar irregularities occurred at other branches or involved additional accounts.
Police sources said the case highlights serious lapses in internal controls and alleged misuse of official access within the banking system. Once prosecution sanction is received, custodial interrogation of the bank employees is expected to shed further light on the scale of the fraud and the exact modus operandi.
Authorities reiterated that strict action would be taken against all those found guilty, regardless of position. The EOW has assured affected customers that recovery proceedings and attachment of assets of the accused will be pursued as per law.
The arrests mark a significant step in the nearly six-year-old case, which has drawn attention to the vulnerability of customer deposits when internal safeguards fail.
About the author – Ayesha Aayat is a law student and contributor covering cybercrime, online frauds, and digital safety concerns. Her writing aims to raise awareness about evolving cyber threats and legal responses.
