JEYPORE/KORAPUT: Koraput police has arrested a former employee of SBI’s Laxmipur branch for stealing 1.610 kg of mortgaged gold ornaments from the bank lockers in November last year.
The accused was identified as 43-year-old Sekhar Kuldipiya of Bikrampur village within Narayanpatana police limits. Addressing mediapersons on Sunday, Koraput SP Varun Guntupalli said Sekhar worked as a messenger in SBI, Laxmipur from 2014 to 2020 before being removed from his job for misconduct.
As Sekhar was closely involved in bank affairs, he knew about the mortgaged gold ornaments of customers kept in the lockers of the strong room.
On November 30, 2021, the accused went to the bank during business hours and hid in an unused room. After the bank closed, he took the keys of the lockers from the branch manager’s office and removed gold ornaments kept in 21 packets.
After committing the theft, Sekhar again confined himself in the room. After the branch opened the next day, he quietly came out of the room and walked out of the bank by dodging other employees.
The theft went unnoticed for many days. When the bank officials found out about the missing ornaments, branch manager Sudhansu Sekhar Rout lodged a complaint with Laxmipur police in this regard on January 14 this year. In the FIR, the manager alleged that some miscreants stole the gold ornaments by using duplicate keys of the lockers.
Based on the complaint, a police team led by IIC Swetapadma Seth launched a probe and scanned the footage of a CCTV camera installed on the bank premises. Guntupalli said police arrested the accused based on the CCTV footage. During interrogation, Sekhar admitted to having committed the crime.
Police have recovered stolen ornaments weighing 1.189 kg, Rs 2.95 lakh cash and household articles worth Rs 1.10 lakh from the accused’s possession. A partially-constructed house of the accused worth Rs 4 lakh in Bhatra Colony has also been seized.
Sekhar was produced in court and remanded in judicial custody. The investigation is underway to trace the rest of the stolen ornaments, the SP added.