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According to the police, Kamal Babu (19), the son of a former SBI employee, had brought computers, lockers, challans and forged documents, among other items, to set up the branch through his contacts. A website was even created in the name of the Panruti Bazaar branch.

Babu, along with A Kumar (42), M Manickam (52), had opened the branch in April amid the lockdown, with an assumption that they would not be caught.

However, the branch came under the radar when an SBI customer enquired about the newly-opened branch in North Bazaar with the manager of an existing branch in the town.

After one of the customers showed the receipt he had acquired from the duplicate branch, the manager and other officials visited the fake branch and were shocked to find the set up similar to that of an original bank branch with all the necessary items.

The three-month-old branch came under the lens after an SBI customer noticed it in Panruti and took the matter up with his Branch manager. Soon after, the matter was escalated to Zonal office, which in turn informed the Branch Manager that only only two branches of SBI are running in Panruti, and no third branch had been opened.

They immediately lodged a complaint with the Panruti police following which the trio were arredt under sections 473, 469, 484, 109 of the Indian Penal Code. The police have said that no transactions had taken place in the branch and no one has been duped so far by the bank.