Mangaluru: In less than two weeks, slain Bajrang Dal member Deepak Rao’s mother, Premalatha, has a bank balance of Rs 40 lakh. Her account had never seen a balance of more than Rs 40,000. However, she is unable to withdraw the money as she does not have a PAN card.

After Deepak was cremated on January 4, BJP members launched a social media campaign to raise funds for his family which depended on his earnings for their sustenance. In less than a week, the campaign brought in Rs 40 lakh. But the money remains untouched till date.

“Premalatha doesn’t have a PAN card. Therefore, there cannot be any transaction,” an official from the nationalised bank told. While the family’s well-wishers have applied for a PAN card, bank officials say they have not received the card details as on Thursday.

A consultant who deals with PAN cards and other government documents, said it takes a minimum of a fortnight and a maximum of a month to obtain a PAN card after submitting the application.

Bank officials suspect Premalatha’s debit card may have been blocked because of a wrong pin number entry. “After three consecutive wrong entries, the card gets blocked. We do not think Premalatha ever used the ATM facility before. She may not even know the card number,” a source said. Shri Mane, a friend of Deepak, also said that the card is blocked.