Kanpur: A chartered accountant, SK Poddar, reached the Central Bank of India (Karachi Khana branch) on Monday noon to check on his ₹35-lakh jewellery kept in the locker.
Poddar could not open it with his keys, but after efforts by bank officials, he could do so, only to find the valuables missing.
The victim had operated the locker after a gap of two years due to the pandemic.
In the last two months, this was the third such incident when a customer of this bank complained to the police about missing jewellery and valuables, said the police.
On Tuesday, Poddar lodged an FIR with the Pheelkhana police against unnamed bank officials. The total estimated value of jewellery stolen in the three incidents was ₹80 lakh, they said.
Before Poddar, two other customers of the bank - Manju Bhattacharya and Sita Gupta - had found their valuables missing ( ₹25 lakh and ₹20 lakh each) from their lockers in March and February months respectively this year. Even their locker keys were not working.
The police formed a special investigation team (SIT) to probe into the theft of valuables from the bank lockers.
"The SIT will get all 550 lockers in this bank opened in the presence of officials, magistrate and customers to determine who else has been affected," said Pramod Kumar, DCP (Kanpur East).
"We will club all the cases into one. Details of all officials who had been associated with locker related processes are being gathered and all of them will be questioned," he said.
Initial investigation indicated that this theft apparently took place when the bank decided to break open 50 lockers.
These were not being operated for years, said a police official involved in the investigation.
An investigation established that the screws in the lockers were missing, which suggested tampering.
The work was given to a private company. It is believed that some bank officials may have connived with the company employees and also got the "operational lockers" opened, said the police.
Regional manager Dayanand Pandey said the decision was taken after several communications to customers did not elicit response.
Bank manager Ram Prasad and locker in-charge Shubham Malviya have been removed with immediate effect, he said.
The police were trying to focus on the locker in-charge Shubham Malviya. He was reportedly absconding.
"The way he has disappeared makes him a suspect," said DCP.
He had applied for anticipatory bail in a Kanpur court. The police traced his location in Prayagraj. According to locals, he lives in Rai Purwa area but his flat was locked.
