Karnataka: A gambling-addicted bank employee stole 2.7 kg gold from the locker in Bengaluru.

Bengaluru, 15 February. An assistant branch manager of a nationalized bank in Bengaluru has been arrested for stealing around 2.7 kg of gold jewelery from a customer’s locker and pawning it for online betting and gambling. The accused has been identified as 34-year-old Kiran Kumar. It is reported that he misused the keys of the locker and when the branch manager was not there, he slowly took out small amounts of the pledged gold.

Assistant branch manager of nationalized bank confessed to his crime

The theft of gold was discovered on January 2, when the customer went to the Indian Bank branch to collect his pledged jewellery. Errors came to light during locker verification. After that a detailed investigation was done, which revealed that jewelery was slightly missing from 21 packets and completely missing from three. Initial investigation estimates that 2,783 grams of gold was stolen, which is worth approximately Rs four crore.

After the irregularities were detected, an official complaint was lodged at the local police station and the police started investigation. During the investigation, accused Kumar was soon taken into custody and during initial interrogation he confessed to his crime.

so far almost 1.2 kg gold recovered

According to police sources, Kumar mortgaged the stolen gold at different shops and used the money received from it for online betting and gambling. So far officials have recovered about 1.2 kg gold. Further investigation is underway to recover the remaining valuables. Some financiers are not cooperating, so the police can seek necessary instructions from the court. Meanwhile, the bank has appealed to the customers to regularly verify the items kept in their lockers and keep their valuables safe.