Jency Jacob, Mumbai: Thirty-three-year-old M K Biju, who works for the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) in Mumbai, has been spending sleepless nights.

Biju’s has salary account with UTI Bank, but according to bank records, Rs 17,000 was siphoned off from his account from the Kottayam branch in Kerala on October 2006.

And what’s surprising is that theft took place at a time when his debit card was not functional.

“I contacted the Kottayam branch and their Assistant manager confirmed the same. He also said that it did not happen through the first card or the present card but some other card itself,” Biju says.

Here's how the mystery card was used to withdraw money:

A new card was issued in September 2005 to replace Biju's old card. But Biju says he never applied for a fresh card.

The card was dispatched to his parents' residence in Kozhikode while bank records continued to show Biju's address as Kottayam. And finally the card as well as the PIN mailer was received by a person called Saji who Biju says has no connection with him or his family.

“Even after 10 days, they are still saying that they are investigating the matter. What is the next step they don’t know. Till date they are telling me that they are waiting to get details from the courier service that gave the delivery. They just confirmed that it has been delivered. But even their system does not have details like to whom and when,” Biju says.

Meanwhile, UTI Bank declined to comment on camera but said that the matter was under investigation.

It’s clear that Biju's card details were compromised when it was dispatched by the bank to the wrong address. And while the role of the courier service is being investigated, the involvement of an insider from the bank is also not being ruled out.