CHITRADURGA: The Doddapet branch of Pragathi Krishna Grameena Bank has allegedly been cheated of crores by its gold appraisers.
In a complaint lodged with the Chitradurga Town Police, the manager of the branch has alleged that the gold appraisers have cheated the bank and caused a huge loss to it.
The complaint also states that the bank has suffered a loss to the tune of Rs 1.12 crore as loans were given to the beneficiaries only after getting the prices fixed by the appraisers.
PKGB had deployed J Deepak and Ravikumar to appraise the value of gold pledged for loans. Deepak has been working with the bank for a year and Ravikumar was with the bank for the last three years.
This is the first such incident reported from PKGB in the city. Top officials of the bank’s head office in Ballari and the regional office in Chitradurga have taken the serious note of the case and are conducting a thorough enquiry into the incident since Thursday. They are visiting all branches and investigating all cases of gold loans extended.
Speaking to Express, Sub Inspector of Town police station Rama Reddy said, “Based on the complaint from the branch manager, we arrested both the accused from Chikkapet area. Further investigation is on”.
He said that both the appraisers have declared fake gold as genuine and had adviced the bank to release loans to applicants.
Sources in the PKGB regional office, who confirmed the incident, said that a thorough investigation is on and the exact extent of loss can be estimated only after getting the report.
Meanwhile, other bankers have also sprung into action and have started to investigate the gold deposited in their branches.
Superintendent of Police M N Anucheth said that 50 accounts of fake gold deposits were reported from the Doddapet branch and gold appraisers J Deepak of Pawan Jewellers and Ravikumar were hand-in-glove.
On a tip-off from an informant a month ago, Anucheth directed PKGB authorities confidentially to conduct a cross-verification.
As per the complaint received from the Doddapet branch, gold worth Rs 1.12 crore has turned out to be fake. The SP added that police custody of the accused will be sought to aid the probe.
It has also come to light that loans to the tune of Rs 3 to Rs 4 crore have been obtained by pledging fake gold at PKGB’s court complex branch, where an internal audit is going on. However, a clear picture will emerge only after receiving a formal complaint from the branch manager, the SP said.