Pune: The Pune city police have implemented a new grievance redressal module to restore bank accounts of innocent people who have received funds from bank accounts linked to cyber fraudsters. The move follows directives from the Union home ministry.It has been observed that shopkeepers and professionals often receive money, ranging from Rs10 to a few lakhs, for genuine transactions. However, investigators freeze the recipients’ bank accounts when it is found in the money trail of a cyber fraud.Senior inspector Swapnali Shinde of the Pune cyber police told TOI: “The step has been taken to provide relief to innocent people who have received money for genuine reasons from bank accounts linked to fraudsters. These accounts are frozen during the investigation and cannot be operated by holders. Earlier, such accounts could be activated only with the court’s permission. Now, after the case investigation officer’s assessment, the account can be unfrozen, providing timely relief to the account holder.”It would directly benefit innocent bank account holders, she added.The procedure decreed that a person whose bank account has been frozen must visit the main branch of their bank and submit an application to activate it. The bank will verify the claim and upload the information on the govt’s Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System portal. The application will then be forwarded to the case investigation officer, who will seek additional information from the bank and the account holder. If satisfactory evidence is produced, the bank account will be unfrozen. The investigation officer may also verify the account holder through a video call.Police said many shopkeepers and other genuine account holders had approached them after their bank accounts were frozen for receiving suspicious transactions from customers or other known or unknown people.
