Andhra Pradesh

Bank manager duped

Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD: A pseudo customs officer tricked a bank manager into parting with Rs. 12.5 lakhs here on Monday at Banjara Hills.

The Dhanalaxmi Bank Branch Manager, I.S.D. Choudhary, received a phone call on his landline around 3 p.m. from a person who claimed to be the customs officer, Prabhakar Rao. The caller told Mr. Choudhary that the bank's Managing Director, Madhavan's brother-in-law, Krishnan, had been arrested at the Begumpet airport on the charge of smuggling and hung up. Even as Mr. Choudhary was thinking of informing his superiors, he received another call. The caller claimed to be the bank's `MD' and asked him to arrange Rs. 12.5 lakhs demanded by customs officials to bail out Krishnan. He said he was taking a flight to Hyderabad and promised to return the money by night.

An hour later, Mr. Choudhary received another call, this time from the self-styled customs officer, who asked him to come to the Secunderabad railway station with the money.

Accordingly, Mr. Choudhary took the cash, went to a hotel and booked a room for the `MD'. From there he proceeded to the meeting point and handed over the money to a person as directed by the "customs official."

He then went to the airport and waited for the `MD'. As he did not turn up, Mr. Choudhary grew suspicious and called up the bank's Deputy General Manager only to learn that he was taken for a ride. Mr. Choudhary lodged a complaint with the Banjara Hills police on Tuesday.

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