In a strange turn of event, a daily wage labourer from Uttar Pradesh’s Kannauj district became a ‘billionaire’- even if it was only for a few hours.
The 45-year-old Bihari Lal just couldn’t believe his eyes after he withdrew Rs 100 from his Jan Dhan account from Jan Seva Kendra. After withdrawing the money, he received an SMS that showed a balance of Rs 2,700 crore in his account.
Lal works as a labourer at a brick kiln in Rajasthan and earns Rs 600 to 800 per day. However, he was at his native place as the brick kiln unit was shut due to the ongoing monsoon season.
Being stunned by the development, Lal went to the bank mitra who checked the account and confirmed the amount in his account. As per the bank mitra, he asked a bank official to check the account thrice.
Lal then asked him to check his account again, after which he checked it thrice more. He even took out the bank statement which was showing Rs 2,700 crore lying in the account.
However, Lal’s happiness was short lived. When he reached the branch to check his account following the strange development, he was told that the balance was just Rs 126. Later, the bank’s lead district manager Abhishek Sinha stated that the account was investigated and it had only Rs 126.
“It could be a banking error. The account of Lal has been seized for a while and the matter has been brought to the knowledge of senior bank officials,” said Sinha.
In a similar incident last year, the back accounts of two boys in Bihar had received hefty amount of money that took the state by surprise.