{
  "type": "article",
  "title": "Two women named Jharna Das share one Aadhaar number in West Bengal, and it just cost one of them ₹27,000",
  "summary": "In West Bengal's Purba Bardhaman district, two women both named Jharna Das turned out to have an identical Aadhaar number, and one woman's fingerprint ended up draining ₹27,000 from the other's bank account. The two later met at their bank branch and settled the matter after the money was repaid.",
  "content": "A bizarre case from Purba Bardhaman district in West Bengal has raised serious doubts about how secure Aadhaar-linked banking really is, after two women turned out to share not just the same name but, according to the family and bank staff involved, an identical 12-digit Aadhaar number. The mix-up meant that when one woman used her own fingerprint at a local banking outlet, money actually went missing from the account of the other woman, who happens to carry the exact same name. The case spans two locations, Baduliya village in Khandaghosh block and the Palashan area of Raina-1 block, and both women involved are named Jharna Das.\n\nHow the discrepancy came to light\nJharna Das of Palashan village visited the customer service point, or CSP, run by Sabir Mobile Point at the local market on July 10, carrying her Aadhaar card. Using her Aadhaar number and fingerprint, she withdrew a combined ₹27,000 across three visits on July 10, 11 and 12. Roughly three weeks later, on August 3, the Reserve Bank of India suddenly froze that CSP's account. As soon as CSP operator Sheikh Zahirul learned of this, he reached out to bank officials and to his own company, and was told that his outlet's records showed a ₹27,000 fraud, which was the reason the account had been blocked.\n\nThe withdrawal first looked legitimate\nZahirul then approached Palashan's Jharna Das directly. She confirmed that she had personally visited the CSP and withdrawn the money using her own Aadhaar number and fingerprint, meaning the cash had not gone to the wrong person at all. But the inquiry did not stop there. Further checking revealed that the very same amount, ₹27,000, had also been deducted through the same CSP from the bank account of another Jharna Das, this one from Baduliya village in Khandaghosh block. A single transaction had somehow touched two separate women's accounts, leaving everyone involved stunned.\n\nMatching Aadhaar numbers deepen the mystery\nTo get to the bottom of it, Zahirul went to the Baduliya branch of West Bengal Gramin Bank. The branch's checks turned up a startling detail: the 12-digit Aadhaar numbers of the Baduliya Jharna Das and the Palashan Jharna Das matched digit for digit. A CSP works on the assumption that every customer's Aadhaar number and fingerprint are unique, letting a local banking agent handle cash withdrawals and deposits in villages and small towns without a full bank branch nearby. This case has now put that basic assumption to the test, since two different women appear to have ended up carrying the same name and the same Aadhaar number, and questions are mounting over how that could happen at all. What worries officials most is that despite biometric verification being in place, money was still pulled from the wrong woman's account, something that calls the entire CSP transaction process into question.\n\nThe two women settled the dispute at the bank\nOnce both women were told the full picture, they showed up together at the Baduliya branch of West Bengal Gramin Bank on September 3. After talking it through, the matter was resolved amicably, with Palashan's Jharna Das depositing ₹27,000 back into the account of Baduliya's Jharna Das. The money has now been squared off, but the bigger questions linger locally: how did two different women end up with an identical Aadhaar number, and how did the withdrawal go through despite biometric checks meant to prevent exactly this. Neither question has been answered yet.\n\nWhat this means for you\nIf your Aadhaar number or fingerprint is on file with a local banking agent, this case is a reminder that a system-level mix-up can drain your account even when you have done nothing wrong.\n\n• Across India: Millions of people in villages and small towns rely on CSPs and banking correspondents for cash withdrawals, so match your SMS alerts and passbook entries after every transaction. Report any unexplained deduction to your bank branch or the RBI's grievance portal immediately.\n• In West Bengal: Residents of the Khandaghosh and Raina-1 areas in Purba Bardhaman district should get their Aadhaar number and bank account cross-checked now, since two residents there have already been found with an identical Aadhaar number. Visiting the local branch to verify Aadhaar seeding status is the safest step.\n• For CSP users: Always collect a receipt after a withdrawal and check the Aadhaar number and amount printed on it. Flag any mismatch to the agent and the bank on the spot.\n• On biometric security: This case shows fingerprint matching is not foolproof. Anyone with access to UIDAI's biometric lock feature is advised to keep it enabled on the Aadhaar app when not transacting.\n\nQuestions & Answers\n\n1. Where did this incident take place?\nIt happened in West Bengal's Purba Bardhaman district, spanning Baduliya village in Khandaghosh block and the Palashan area of Raina-1 block.\n\n2. What are the two women's names?\nBoth women are named Jharna Das.\n\n3. How much money was involved?\nA total of ₹27,000.\n\n4. Whose fingerprint was used, and whose account lost the money?\nPalashan's Jharna Das withdrew the money using her own Aadhaar number and fingerprint, but the amount was deducted from the bank account of Baduliya's Jharna Das.\n\n5. How did the discrepancy come to light?\nIt surfaced after the RBI suspended the concerned CSP's account on August 3, prompting an investigation.\n\n6. How was the matter resolved?\nOn September 3, both women met at the Baduliya branch of West Bengal Gramin Bank, and Palashan's Jharna Das deposited ₹27,000 into the account of Baduliya's Jharna Das.\n\n7. Is anything still unresolved?\nYes, it is still unclear how two different women ended up with an identical Aadhaar number and how the withdrawal went through despite biometric verification.",
  "url": "https://trendkia.com/en/west-bengal/purba-bardhaman-men-do-jharna-das-ka-eka-jaisa-adhara-nnbara-nikala-musibata-ki-jara-phingaraprinta-se-ure-27-hajara-rupaye-28561",
  "category": "West Bengal",
  "publishedAt": "2026-09-06",
  "tags": [
    "Aadhaar Card Fraud",
    "Bank Fraud",
    "West Bengal News",
    "Fingerprint Fraud",
    "Biometric Verification",
    "CSP Scam"
  ],
  "language": "en",
  "site": "TrendKia"
}