BENGALURU: A 35-year-old assistant branch manager of Indian Bank, Girinagar branch in Banashankari 3rd Stage, was arrested for stealing over 2 kg of gold ornaments pledged by customers to get gold loans.
The accused, E Kiran Kumar, was addicted to online betting and gambling, stole ornaments worth around Rs 4.12 crore and pledged them at gold finance firms. The theft came to light when a customer came to collect her jewellery after closing the gold loan.
The police recovered around 700 gm of gold ornaments from him. The bank manager and Kiran had access to the room where the pledged gold was kept. Kiran stole small quantities from the packets in which the gold ornaments were kept.
On February 2, one of the bank’s customers, who had closed her gold loan, came to collect her ornaments. She noticed that some of her jewellery was missing from the packet and complained to the manager, who ordered an internal probe.
The theft is said to have occurred between June 24, 2025 and January-end this year. Bank’s chief manager Dilip Kumar from the Zonal Office on MG Road filed a complaint at the Girinagar police station on February 5 after Kiran’s role was proved.
“On February 2, the customer went to the bank branch to close her gold loan and to take her ornaments back. When she checked, she found some pieces of jewellery missing. She complained to bank’s branch manager Trupti Jha, who informed the zonal office.
During the internal investigation, it was found that ornaments belonging to 24 gold loan accounts out of the total 207 had been stolen. From 21 packets, small quantities of jewellery were stolen, but from three others, the entire contents were emptied out. In total, 2.78 kg of gold worth around Rs 4.12 crore had been spirited away,” said an officer.
Kiran was working at the bank’s Girinagar branch from June 24, 2025. It is said that he confessed only he was involved in the theft and told the investigators that he had pledged the jewellery at gold loan finance firms. He has submitted the receipts from places where he has pledged the stolen ornaments.
A case of criminal breach of trust has been filed against him. Customers are advised to repeatedly check their gold ornaments kept in banks,” said Lokesh B Jagalasar, DCP (South).