Cherthala police on Wednesday booked a female contract employee of a bank in Cherthala for allegedly looting ₹26,85,000 from customers by posing as a permanent employee and using counterfeit bank documents.

The accused, identified as Sreeja (35) of Varanad, Cherthala, had been employed as a sweeper on a contract basis at the State Bank of India SME Branch in Cherthala. During her tenure, she allegedly posed as a permanent employee and collected deposits from customers.

Using her proximity to the bank's operations, she allegedly obtained counterfeit deposit forms, receipts and other official bank documents, giving customers the impression that the transactions were genuine. During this period, she allegedly looted ₹26,85,000, the FIR stated.

According to the police, the fraud came to light about a month ago when one of the victims approached the bank seeking information about the money he had deposited. Subsequently, two more individuals reported similar deposits for which the bank had no records.

The bank then traced the transactions to Sreeja and filed a complaint with the police.

"So far, only three people have come forward, but there could be more victims. We are probing the matter and can confirm this only after the investigation," the police said.

Following the complaint, the police booked Sreeja under Sections 318(2), 336(3) and 340(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023.