A shocking case of fraud has surfaced at PGI Chandigarh, where a man from Himachal Pradesh lost ₹50,000 while visiting for his wife’s treatment. The victim, Joginder Singh from Bilaspur, had come to Chandigarh for his wife’s breast cancer care. She is undergoing treatment at PGI’s New OPD.
The incident occurred on February 16 around 3:15 pm. Singh went to withdraw cash from a Punjab National Bank ATM inside the New OPD complex. He withdrew ₹5,000 successfully. At that moment, a masked man approached him and claimed the debit card was stuck inside the machine. The accused asked Singh to re-enter the PIN.
Trusting the stranger, Singh followed the instructions. The man then handed him a debit card, claiming it belonged to Singh. The victim left the ATM unaware of the swap. About ten minutes later, Singh received multiple transaction alerts. Five withdrawals of ₹10,000 each drained ₹50,000 from his account.
On checking the card, Singh noticed another person’s name printed on it. He immediately contacted the bank and blocked his card. Sector-11 police registered a case against an unknown accused and started an investigation. Police teams are scanning nearby CCTV footage to identify the suspect. The incident has raised fresh concerns over patient safety and ATM security in hospital premises.
