Rs 50 lakh jewellery vanishes from SBI locker: Woman alleges bank negligence after being told she no longer had a locker following bank merger

Jewellery worth around Rs 50 lakh has gone missing from a bank locker at an SBI branch in Kanpur’s Swaroop Nagar area, prompting the locker holder to approach the Police Commissioner’s office, according to a TOI report.

The woman has accused the bank manager and employees of negligence after discovering that the jewellery kept in her locker was missing. Following the complaint, Swaroop Nagar police registered a case against the branch manager and employees on Saturday on the orders of the Police Commissioner.

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Rs 50 lakh jewellery missing from bank locker

According to the complaint, Rashmi Arora, a resident of Kaushalpuri, had opened a savings account at the then State Bank of Travancore branch in Swaroop Nagar in 2003.

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She was allotted locker number 23 at the branch, where she said she had kept jewellery worth approximately Rs 50 lakh.

After the death of her husband, Arora began living in Lucknow at her daughter's home. She continued to have the bank account and said locker charges were being deducted from her account.

Around four months ago, she visited the bank with her daughter and learnt that State Bank of Travancore had since been merged with the State Bank of India.

Woman says jewellery was missing when she opened locker

Arora said that on July 21, she visited the bank after depositing money into her account. The bank informed her about the locker number, but she could not check the locker that day because she did not have the key with her.

She returned to the bank on July 27 and opened the locker.

It was then, according to her complaint, that she discovered that the jewellery was missing.

Arora said she approached bank employees and also contacted the police, but claimed that she did not receive a satisfactory response. She subsequently approached the Police Commissioner and accused the bank manager and employees of negligence.

Daughter raises questions over missing jewellery

Tripta Kalyal, a resident of Alambagh in Lucknow, also spoke about the matter, saying the locker belonged to her elderly mother.

According to Kalyal, her mother had opened a savings account at the Swaroop Nagar branch of State Bank of Travancore in 2003 and was allotted locker number 23. She said jewellery worth around Rs 50 lakh had been kept inside it.

Kalyal said her mother used to visit the bank from time to time to check the locker. However, after her father died in 2011 and her mother developed heart-related health issues, she was called to stay with her daughter in Lucknow.

Around four months ago, Kalyal said she accompanied her mother to the bank. The branch manager reportedly informed them that State Bank of Travancore had been merged with SBI.

According to Kalyal, they were also told that her mother no longer had a locker at the branch.

Police register case against SBI manager and employees

Following the complaint, Arora approached the Police Commissioner seeking action in the case.

On the Commissioner's orders, Swaroop Nagar police registered a case against the branch manager and employees on Saturday.

The allegations are now being investigated, and the registration of a case does not by itself establish wrongdoing by the bank officials named in the complaint.

Police say locker was opened in 2020

Swaroop Nagar police station in-charge Devendra Singh said the bank's records show that the locker holder had visited the branch twice in 2020 to open the locker.

“There is an entry of this in the bank register. The matter is being investigated,” Singh said.

The police are expected to examine the bank's locker records, access registers and other relevant documents as part of the investigation into the disappearance of the jewellery.


Inputs from TOI