Jewellery of Rs.80 lakhs missing from locker in SBI Noida branch

A case has been filed against State Bank of India’s Sector-18 branch manager Sushil Kumar, record keeper Pankaj Kumar, and former bank manager Sunita Asthana in connection with the disappearance of jewelry worth lakhs from the branch’s locker. The Sector-20 Police is conducting an investigation into the matter and has also questioned bank employees. The police have sought information from the bank regarding this case

The complaint was filed by Parul Khare, a resident of Lotus Boulevard Society in Sector-100, who had a locker at SBI’s Sector-18 branch. She claimed to have kept jewelry worth more than 80 lakhs in the locker. Almost a year later, on Monday, she came to inspect the locker.

When she tried to open the locker with her key, it didn’t open. Subsequently, in the presence of bank officials, the locker was broken, revealing it to be empty. All the jewelry kept in it was missing. Concerns were raised about the collusion between bank officials and employees in this case.

Parul Khare, the complainant, stated that the role of bank management and employees is suspicious in this case. Meanwhile, Noida’s Additional Police Commissioner Manish Mishra is overseeing the investigation. Action is being taken based on the collection of facts.

As per the new rules for bank lockers, customers are allowed to keep only jewelry, essential documents, and legally valid items in the locker. RBI has explicitly stated in its new regulations that if the belongings of customers in the bank locker incur any damage, the bank will be obligated to pay 100 times the annual rent of the locker. In case of fire, looting, or theft, the bank will also be liable to compensate, as such incidents are considered the negligence of the banks.