Bank employee held for using duplicate key to steal ₹66L from locker

The locker had a dual-key system, with one key kept by the customers and a master key retained by the bank. Both keys were required to open it

MUMBAI: A bank employee allegedly created a duplicate key for a customer’s bank account and stole gold and diamond-studded jewellery and gold coins worth ₹66.25 lakh from a Goregaon branch, police said. The Dindoshi police arrested the accused, Gaurav Rameshwar Sharma, from his hometown in Uttar Pradesh. He has since been remanded to police custody by a magistrate court in Borivali.

Bank employee held for using duplicate key to steal ₹66L from locker

The locker was held by Goregaon residents Komal Kanodia and her husband, Hemant Kanodia, a textile merchant. The couple had a joint account with other family members at the bank and used the locker exclusively for storing valuables belonging to the family.

The locker had a dual-key system, with one key kept by the customers and a master key retained by the bank. Both keys were required to open it. Whenever the couple wanted to access the locker, the manager would first use the master key, after which they would insert their key.

The couple regularly visited the branch to deposit and withdraw jewellery and cash. On October 25, 2024, however, Hemant opened the locker and found that a substantial amount of the family’s valuables had disappeared.

The couple informed the bank manager, following which the bank carried out an internal inquiry. The matter was eventually reported to the Dindoshi police in June 2026. Police registered a case against an unknown bank employee and began probing how the locker could have been accessed.

Investigators then questioned bank employees and examined the circumstances surrounding the locker theft. Following which, police subsequently detained Sharma in Uttar Pradesh.

According to the police, Sharma allegedly created a duplicate key of the Kanodias’ locker. Investigators allege that he later used the key to access the locker and steal the valuables. Police have recovered the stolen jewellery and coins from Sharma.