BENGALURU: Two private bank employees were arrested for allegedly stealing diamond and gold ornaments belonging to the bank manager, which were kept in the bank locker in BEML Layout, Basaveshwaranagar.
The bank manager, S P Sirisha (32), filed a complaint with the Basaveshwaranagar police station in January, reporting that ornaments weighing around 200 grams and worth around Rs 15 lakhs were missing from her locker.
Based on her complaint, the police arrested Harshith (24), a resident of Kamakshipalya, and Aishwarya (27), residing in the city’s South East police division. Harshith was working as a field executive, while Aishwarya was in charge of the locker’s safe custody. Both had been associated with the bank for the last five years.
According to the police, Sirisha, a resident of Vidyamana Nagar, had shown her colleagues the valuables she had kept in the locker in May 2024. Alongside the ornaments, her mark cards, cheque books, and other documents were also kept inside.
An officer said when Sirisha briefly stepped away, leaving her purse behind, the accused took the keys to her locker. Access to the locker required two sets of keys, one belonging to the customer and the other held by the person in charge of safe custody. Aishwarya, having access to the second set of keys, conspired with Harshith to open the locker. They waited for a power failure, rendering CCTVs non-functional.
Sirisha had thought she had misplaced her keys. During the bank’s year-end audit, she had the lock forcibly opened as per protocol, only to discover that all her ornaments were missing.
“Since outsiders had no access to the area, it was evident that it was an inside job,” said an officer. Both accused went into hiding after being asked to return for further interrogation. They later obtained anticipatory bail and, upon being questioned, confessed to the crime. The police recovered 170 grams of ornaments that were sold. Aishwarya, who was building a house, and Harshith, who was paying off a loan, had shared the stolen money.