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Bengaluru bank manager’s gold and cash stolen from her own locker, case filed: Report
Bengaluru Police suspect insider theft as the key went missing. Investigations are underway, but the absence of CCTV footage complicates the case.
A 32-year-old bank manager from West Bengaluru was left stunned after discovering that her gold ornaments, stored in a locker at her workplace, had gone missing. The Basaveshwaranagar police have registered a case, suspecting insider involvement in the theft, reported The Times of India.
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According to the report, the victim works as a manager at a bank in Basaveshwaranagar. According to her police complaint, she had rented a locker at the same branch to store her gold ornaments, a cheque book, and other important documents.
She told that the contents of her locker were last checked on May 2024, and everything was intact at that time. However, in October, she realized that her locker key was missing. Despite thoroughly searching for it within the bank premises, the key remained untraceable. She reported the matter to the bank's in-charge and, with permission, broke open the locker on December 30 in the presence of bank staff. To her shock, only the documents were found in the locker, while the gold ornaments, weighing approximately 250 grams and valued at ₹20 lakh, were missing.
In her complaint, she explained that the lockers could only be accessed using both the customer’s key and a master key. Additionally, access to the lockers required the master key and the key to the locker grill door, which were typically stored in the bank’s cash box. She suspected that someone with the intent to steal had taken her locker key from her bag and used it to commit the crime.
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The delay in filing the complaint, Pavani clarified, was due to an internal inquiry conducted by the bank, which failed to yield any results. The unavailability of CCTV footage from the time of the incident further complicated the investigation.
Basaveshwaranagar police have registered a case under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code, which pertains to theft by a clerk or servant of property in possession of the employer. “We suspect insider involvement and will question the bank employees thoroughly. If the complaint had been filed immediately after the key went missing, identifying the suspect would have been easier,” a senior officer told publication.
Investigations are ongoing, and the police are working to uncover the culprits behind this breach of trust and security.
