New Delhi: A case involving the alleged disappearance of jewelery from an SBI locker has surfaced in Kanpur, where a widow has claimed that ornaments worth around ₹50 lakh went missing from her bank locker. Police have registered an FIR against the branch manager of the SBI Swaroop Nagar branch and unidentified bank employees in connection with the complaint.
The complainant, Rashmi Arora, a resident of Kaushalpuri, alleged that her jewelery kept in locker number 23 was missing when she accessed it after several years.
Woman Claims Locker Was Empty After Years of Inactivity
According to Arora's complaint, she had opened a savings account with the then State Bank of Travancore branch in 2003 and was allotted a locker facility.
After the death of her husband, she shifted to Lucknow and did not operate the locker for several years. She stated that she recently decided to check the locker after completing the required formalities.
Arora said that on July 21, after paying the locker charges, bank officials verified her locker details. However, she could not access it on that day as she did not have the locker key with her.
When she returned with the key on July 27, she claimed that she found the locker completely empty.
FIR Registered After Police Commissioner's Intervention
In her complaint, Arora alleged that bank officials initially refused to acknowledge the existence of her locker. She claimed that the locker details were accepted only after she produced account documents and records showing deductions of locker charges.
She accused the branch manager and other unidentified employees of involvement in a possible conspiracy to misappropriate the jewellery.
After the matter reached Police Commissioner Raghubir Lal, an investigation was ordered on August 6. Following this, Swaroop Nagar Police registered an FIR on August 10 against the branch manager and unidentified staff members.
Police Examine Bank Records and CCTV Footage
Swaroop Nagar Station House Officer Devendra Singh said that investigators are examining bank records, locker-related documents and CCTV footage to establish the facts of the case.
Police officials stated that further action will be taken after analyzing the evidence collected during the investigation.