In far-flung
Krishnagiri, there was a big robbery reportedly worthy Rs. 13 crore gold. Going by TOI reports, the CCTV footage
showed 3 men inside. It is stated that
robbers got away with close to 48kg of
gold worth about Rs.13.5 crore after
they broke into a nationalized bank in Kundarapalli in Krishnagiri district. The
branch, located some 20km from Krishnagiri caters to the rural populace of
Gundarapalli bordering Andhra Pradesh. Preliminary investigations suggest that there
were three burglars who entered the Bank of Baroda branch through the back door
of an abandoned house that shared a wall with the bank. They took advantage of
an open door in the building to gain access to the bank, said police.
The heist came to
light on Saturday morning when the bank opened the bank around 9.45am. He found
the door of the locker room broken open. He called the police and senior bank
officials immediately. After
stock-taking operations, it was revealed that loss could be little more than 6,000 sovereigns of gold
(approximately 48kg). The bank serves
around 100 villages in the district and most customers are daily wage labourers
and ex-servicemen who had taken loans against jewelry from the bank. “The
burglars entered the bank premises easily as the branch did not have any
security guards,“ said an officer. Now the village is worrying about the
compensation that they might get. One of
them is quoted as saying that she had obtained a loan of Rs.1.5 lakh by
pledging 40 sovereigns of gold jewelry.
Similar is the tale of many others, who are daily-wage earners.
A few of the
customers had kept jewelry in the bank lockers for safekeeping. “My husband
is an alcoholic and would sell any jewelry I kept at home. So I hired a
locker. Now they have been burgled and my daughter’s wedding is in a couple of
weeks,” said a 48 year old agricultural labourer from Thippampalli village.
Another who saved little by little with her wage from Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee stated that she had lost all her savings.
Reports suggest that the robbery was
not the first in the branch. “A few
months ago, a gold appraiser stole 100 sovereigns of gold from the lockers and
replaced it with duplicate jewels. The issue came to light when one of the
customers tried to sell his jewels,” said a bank official on condition of
anonymity. More than robbers fleeting away
with close to 48kg of gold worth – the lurking fear on adequacy of compensation
is the talk of the villages. It is reported that agitated public, who had
mortgaged their jewelry with the bank gathered around the branch, even as the
police cordoned off the area. Security lapses were evident in the bank that had
been servicing the area for over two decades, police sources said. There was no
night guard in the bank, and of the five CCTV cameras, two cameras were
dysfunctional. One of the cameras along with a dysfunctional sound alarm was
placed right at the entrance of the bank. Except for the entrance of the bank
that was secured by a sliding shutter, the rear entries were feeble wooden
doors and were broken by the burglars.
A higher official
of the Bank is quoted as saying that the compensation for the jewelry stolen
in the weekend heist will be based on the bank guidelines and master policy.
“There are no ifs and buts in this case. Every single person will be
compensated,” However, it is unclear if the remediation will be based on the
current market value. Generally, the
gross weight value on the date of burglary will be considered, says another
senior official with the bank. Outside
the robbed bank, those who had lost their jewels were, however, assured that
their loss will be compensated on market value, deducting the loan amount along
with the interest as on date of settlement.
Later, there was
some calm after the bank put up a notice listing the mortgage accounts that
were still intact in the other safe. Five accounts were closed after the owners
took back the mortgaged jewelry on payment of the loan amount.
If it
is not mortgaged jewellery, there is no way, the bank could make out as to what
was lost from the lockers, if they had been breached. As per the RBI policy: “The bank will, in no
way, be responsible/liable for the contents kept in the locker by the hirer. In
case of theft, burglary or similar unforeseen events, action will be initiated
as per law.” The RBI has also earlier stated that even if the banks do not know
about the contents of the locker, they should take necessary steps to protect
the contents in the locker.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
29th Jan 2015.
