Coins worth ₹14.86 lakh missing from Union Bank in Odisha, staff under scanner

Police officials said Santosh Kumar, who joined as branch manager on January 21, detected the discrepancy. Kumar lodged an FIR at Paradip Lock police station against two former bank managers.

A whopping ₹14.86 lakh in coins of denominations between Re 1 to ₹10 have gone missing from a branch of the Union Bank of India in the port town of Paradip, prompting the bank authorities to lodge a complaint with the local police.

A candidate from Indore-3 assembly seat in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh Thursday brought ₹10,000 in one-rupee coins as security deposit to accompany his nomination papers.(Reuters File Photo)

Paradip Lock police inspector Prabhas Sahoo said the matter came to light during an internal audit of the branch. “Around 3 lakh coins have been usurped by 4 bank officials between 2016 and 2020. The coins were kept in a vault,” said Sahoo.

Police officials said Santosh Kumar, who joined as branch manager on January 21, detected the discrepancy. Kumar lodged an FIR in this regard at Paradip Lock police station against two former bank managers, Amarjit Panda, Shiva Shankar Padhi and two employees Sangaram Kishore Behera and Saurav Soren. A case has been registered under Sections 420, 409 and 34 of IPC against them.

“It is likely that the bank officials stole the coins everyday over the last 4 years. The CCTV camera feed of the bank may not be available,” said the inspector.

A police team will conduct a probe into the matter. Last month, ₹2.61 crore was misappropriated from the bank’s Sadeipur branch within Balikuda police limits. The funds were allocations towards projects under Ama Gaon Ama Bikash scheme and Critical Grant Funds of the block.

Senior officials from the bank’s headquarters have also started a separate probe into the matter.