KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee allegedly fell victim to cyber fraud alleging that around Rs 56 lakh were siphoned from his bank account linked to his tenure as an MLA years ago. According to sources, the bank authorities themselves filed a complaint with the Kolkata police cybercrime department.According to sources, between 2001 to 2006, Banerjee was the MLA of Asansol South. During that time, an account was opened in his name, along with other legislators, at the State Bank of India’s (SBI) legislative assembly sub-branch. This sub-branch is under SBI’s High Court branch. All his allowances as an MLA were deposited into this account.Banerjee who is now an MP from Sreerampore, stated there has been no transactions in this old account for a long time, rendering it a ‘dormant account’ (a term used by banks for accounts with no transactions over an extended period). It is alleged that fraudsters exploited this account for their scheme.Kalyan’s primary account is presently with SBI’s Kalighat branch. The MP claims that the manager of the High Court branch called him on Thursday to inform him about the fraud. It has been reported that using the MP’s photo and mobile number, Rs 56 lakh was transferred through the dormant account and subsequently the entire amount was then withdrawn.
