- A woman found her State Bank of Travancore locker, now merged with SBI, empty
- She had kept gold and silver jewellery worth Rs 50 lakh
- Police registered an FIR against bank staff and are investigating the missing jewellery case
'Where is my jewellery?' A 55-year-old woman from Uttar Pradesh was left wondering when she saw her bank locker empty. The woman, Rashmi Arora, had kept gold and silver jewellery worth Rs 50 lakh in the State Bank of Travancore (SBT) locker in 2003. Years later, when she opened the locker, she found it empty.
The story dates to February 26, 2003, when Rashmi Arora, along with her husband opened a savings account with the State Bank of Travancore (SBT). They were allotted locker number 23, where they kept their gold and silver jewellery worth Rs 50 lakh. Over the years, the Aroras periodically visited the bank and checked on their valuables.
However, when Rashmi's husband died, she moved from Swaroop Nagar in Kanpur to Lucknow to live with her daughter and son-in-law. Because of the distance, she stopped visiting the bank, hoping her assets would be secure.
Four months ago, when Arora, along with her younger daughter, visited the bank, she was told that SBT no longer exists as a separate entity and had been merged with the State Bank of India (SBI). She was told that she had no locker under her name at SBI.
Bewildered, Arora visited the bank branch again, this time with all relevant documents as proof of her account and locker allotment. The Branch Manager told her that locker rent was being automatically deducted from her account, which had resulted in a zero balance.
On July 21, Arora transferred some money into her account to reactivate it. However, she forgot to bring the locker key with her.
On July 27, she again visited the bank and got access to the locker. What happened next left her in shock - locker number 23 was empty.
The woman has lodged a police complaint, accusing the bank management and staff of conspiring to misappropriate the jewellery.
A First Information Report (FIR) has been registered against the branch manager and concerned staff members.
"We have registered a case and are interrogating the concerned bank employees. We are also checking CCTV records," Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Kanpur Atul Srivastava said.
The police are investigating locker records, bank documents, and the role of employees.
(With inputs from Arun Kumar Agrawal)
