A seventh grade student in West Bengal got the shock of her life when she went to withdraw just 900 rupees from her bank account and the screen instead showed a balance of 759 crore 69 lakh 51 thousand 951 rupees. The bizarre figure left the student and her family stunned, and within hours the story became the talk of the entire area, with neighbours struggling to believe what they were hearing.
Scholarship money was meant for new shoes
Suparna Roy, who studies in class seven at Haldibari High School in the Cooch Behar district, had received a message that the government had credited 800 rupees into her account as scholarship money. Suparna's father works as a labourer in Kerala to support the family back home, and their financial condition is extremely poor. Since her old shoes had completely worn out and were no longer fit to wear to school, the family had decided in advance that they would use the scholarship amount to buy her a new pair.
She went to withdraw cash, the screen showed crores instead
On Saturday, Suparna went to a local customer service centre with her elder brother and withdrew 900 rupees from her account. When the operator checked the remaining balance after completing the transaction, the screen showed 759,69,51,951 rupees, which works out to more than 759 crore rupees. Everyone present at the centre was left speechless at the sight of the figure. The family initially assumed there was some technical fault in the machine, but the same enormous number kept appearing every single time the balance was checked again.
News of the crore rupee balance spread through Haldibari
Within a short time, word spread across Haldibari that a poor family's daughter had crores of rupees showing in her account. People from the neighbourhood began gathering at the customer service centre just to see the spectacle for themselves. Everyone wanted to know how such a massive amount could possibly appear in the account of a schoolgirl who had only walked in to collect a small scholarship payment.
Family says they only wanted the scholarship amount
Suparna's family made clear that they have nothing to do with this huge sum and that they themselves cannot understand how it came to appear in the account. They said all they had wanted was the scholarship money so they could buy new shoes for their daughter, but seeing a balance running into hundreds of crores left them frightened rather than relieved.
Police and bank officials launch an investigation
As soon as the matter came to light, police and bank officials began investigating the case. It is initially believed that the error could be the result of a technical glitch in the banking system, a software error, or a problem with data synchronisation between servers. However, the actual cause behind this strange banking mix up will only become clear once the investigation is complete.
