Ahmedabad: Around Rs 7 crore was siphoned off from four branches of the Bhavnagar District Co-operative Bank after cyberscammers gained access to the bank’s software system through a mobile application.Cyber Excellence Centre of CID Crime in Gandhinagar was in the process of registering an offence till reports last came in.According to officials, the transfers were detected from accounts linked to the Talaja, Bharatnagar, Subhashnagar and Sidsar branches. The transactions were processed on Sunday, when the bank was closed.“The digital trail indicates that four mobile phones were used to carry out the transfers. Further probe is underway,” an official said.Bank officials said the activity came to light after unusual transactions were detected during internal monitoring. After the incident was reported, the bank stopped operations across its branches to prevent further transfers.Chairman Rasik Bhingradia said, “We have 88 branches with around 7 lakh account holders. Account holders do not need to worry as their deposits will not be affected. We reported the matter and stopped transactions,” he said.Bhingradia said the bank will replace the existing software system. “We will introduce another system with updated security features. Banking operations that were stopped after the breach are expected to resume from Wednesday,” he said.Officials of the CID cyber unit said representatives of the bank approached them on Tuesday evening regarding the matter. A complaint will be registered under the relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act.Police began examining transaction records, server logs and digital devices linked to the case to identify the persons involved. The inquiry is also focusing on how the bank’s system was accessed and whether there was any lapse in security controls.Officials said further details will emerge after examination of the digital records and technical analysis of the bank’s systems.
