BHUBANESWAR: Around 1.6 kg of mortgaged gold ornaments worth over Rs 1 crore have been stolen from the State Bank of India’s Laxmipur branch in Koraput. Though the theft took place around two months back, it came to light after Laxmipur police detained a person in this connection on Thursday.
Sources said police have recovered some of the stolen ornaments from the person’s house and are interrogating him at an undisclosed location. The detained person is reportedly an employee of the bank.
Confirming the development, a police officer on condition of anonymity said the accused managed to steal gold ornaments weighing around 1,600 gm of customers mortgaged in the bank. The theft went unnoticed for several days. However, when bank employees found the ornaments missing, they checked the CCTV footage and identified the accused.
Later, bank officials lodged a complaint in this regard with Laxmipur police. During the investigation, it was found that a bank employee was involved in the theft. On Thursday, police raided the house of the accused and recovered a portion of the stolen gold ornaments besides detaining him.
Police said the accused is being grilled. An investigation is underway to find out the involvement of other persons in the theft. “Special teams have been formed to investigate the case. Efforts are on to round up all the suspects and crack the case,” said DIG, South Western Range Rajesh Pandit.