SBI theft! 2.8 kg gold worth Rs 1.25 crore stolen from locker, 2 bank employees suspended

Another bank theft story has come afore as robbers have stolen about 2.8 kg gold kept in the safe of SBI branch situated in Baijnathpur police camp area. Reports claim that the stolen gold was worth Rs 1.25 crore.

Following the incident, the bank has registered a case in Baijnathpur police camp. The bank's cleaner Umesh Mallik has been accused of stealing. Since the date of the theft i.e. April 23, sweepers have been reported absconding.

Also, READ: Clerical error by SBI staffer leads to Rs 1.5 crore worth of wrong transfer, 15 employees get Rs 10 lakh each

The bank officials have suspended two employees in reference to the case. One of the two staffers is the cash-in-charge and the other one is the service manager. Reports suggest that the key of the safe inside the bank was kept with these two employees.

Based on reports, the bank came to know about the robbery upon conducting the usual check on the safe. Routine checks unveiled that 48 bags of gold were missing from the safe. Further, investigations unveiled that the bank cleaner had stopped coming for duty after the theft.

According to the regional manager, B K Singh, the gold kept in the safe belonged to the customers who had previously taken a loan from the bank by mortgaging their gold.

The customers don’t have to worry even if the stolen gold isn’t recovered the bank will give them gold or the amount which is equivalent to the value of that gold as per current price of the yellow metal.

According to a report by Hindustan Times, the SDPO said,“A part of the stolen gold was sold in Nepal. Saharsa police are in touch with their Nepalese counterparts. It is beyond imagination how the keys to the locker were handed over to a contractual employee. Two bank employees, a cashier and an accountant, were responsible for keeping the keys.”

The theft is just one of the many other times wherein negligence on the part of bank authorities has led to huge burglaries.