Swara Bhaskar files complaint with Kharghar police following “fraudulent” cash withdrawal
Anirban Das (MID-DAY; September 1, 2015)

Swara Bhaskar, who is currently shooting in Karjat for Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, has fallen victim to ATM fraud. On August 27, she had attempted to withdraw cash at an ATM in the premises of a Navi Mumbai shopping mall, but in vain. A few minutes later, however, she received a message that Rs 20,000 had been debited from her account.

A source close to the actress says, “After wrapping up the day’s schedule, she was heading to a hotel and on the way, stopped by the mall in Kharghar. The ATM was quite slow and two people standing close by informed her that it was not working properly. So she left without making any transaction. When she stepped out and reached her car, she got a message saying Rs 20,000 had been withdrawn from her account. She was shocked as she hadn’t even entered her ATM pin.” Swara then ran back to the ATM to find that the machine was functioning normally.

Without any delay, she filed a complaint with the Kharghar police. “People from the film’s production team also reached the police station to help her. She called the bank to inform them about the fraud. The money has not been credited to her account so far,” adds the source.

Swara confirms the news, saying, “It seems strange in retrospect that the ATM would hang the minute I swiped my card, and two random strangers would appear and start offering advice. But what is scary is that my account or the ATM could be cracked though I did not provide any account details or PIN number. I spent the whole night lodging complaints with the cyber crime cell and the bank and kept the team of my production awake as well.”