Generally, banks are considered as the safest option for people to keep their jewellery and money safe. However, keeping jewellery at a bank didn't turn out to be safe for several people after a bank official allegedly mortgaged gold ornaments belonging to multiple customers.
The incident happened at Indian Bank's Girinagar branch in Bengaluru and the matter came to the light after the bank manager filed a complaint against the deputy manager, who as per media reports has been identified as 34-year-old Kiran Kumar, for allegedly misappropriating and unauthorisedly mortgaging 2,780 grams of gold ornaments belonging to multiple customers, worth over Rs 3.5 crore.
The complaint was registered at the Girinagar police station on February 5 under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Section 316 (criminal breach of trust).
Accused arrested; police issue advisory
During its investigation, the police found that the accused had removed the gold ornaments from the bank's lockers without informing higher authorities and pledged them with a finance company. The police said that he had spent the proceeds on online betting, adding that it is carrying out an investigation and has apprehended the accused, who accepted during questioning that he stole the ornaments from June last year to January.
The Bengaluru Police has also advised the customers who were using the bank's locker facility to verify the status of their jewellery. It said that the customers should regularly keep checking the status of their jewellery at bank lockers.
"The accused deputy bank manager has been arrested in this case. We are trying to recover the gold. So far, about 700 grams have been recovered," said Lokesh B Jagalasar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South), was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. "We are not getting the desired cooperation from the financiers. We will move the court and initiate appropriate legal action against them. Further investigation is underway."
