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Friday, November 1, 2024

robbers flee with 13 crore gold at Krishnagiri ~ how safe is Locker !!!

How do you protect your jewellery and valuables ? Do you have a locker in any bank ? Have you taken any insurance policy covering your valuables ? – if you have a locker facility in a Bank, have you ever read the terms and conditions, especially, the banker’s  liability, if any and if you have a Policy – the terms and conditions of coverage, the policy exclusions and the like !! .. rich keep their jewellery and valuables in lockers and pay for it – some pledge their gold and jewellery and take loan from the bank, paying interest.

In far-flung Krishnagiri, there was a big robbery reportedly worthy Rs. 13 crore gold.   Going by TOI reports, the CCTV footage showed 3 men inside.   It is stated that robbers  got away with close to 48kg of gold worth about  Rs.13.5 crore after they broke into a nationalized bank in Kundarapalli in Krishnagiri district. The branch, located some 20km from Krishnagiri caters to the rural populace of Gundarapalli bordering Andhra Pradesh.  Preliminary investigations suggest that there were three burglars who entered the Bank of Baroda branch through the back door of an abandoned house that shared a wall with the bank. They took advantage of an open door in the building to gain access to the bank, said police.

The heist came to light on Saturday morning when the bank opened the bank around 9.45am. He found the door of the locker room broken open. He called the police and senior bank officials immediately.  After stock-taking operations, it was revealed that loss could be  little more than 6,000 sovereigns of gold (approximately 48kg).  The bank serves around 100 villages in the district and most customers are daily wage labourers and ex-servicemen who had taken loans against jewellery from the bank. “The burglars entered the bank premises easily as the branch did not have any security guards,“ said an officer. Now the village is worrying about the compensation that they might get.  One of them is quoted as saying that she had obtained a loan of Rs.1.5 lakh by pledging 40 sovereigns of gold jewellery.  Similar is the tale of many others, who are daily-wage earners. 

A few of the customers had kept jewellery in the bank lockers for safekeeping. “My husband is an alcoholic and would sell any jewellery I kept at home. So I hired a locker. Now they have been burgled and my daughter’s wedding is in a couple of weeks,” said a 48 year old agricultural labourer from Thippampalli village. Another who saved little by little with her wage from  Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee stated that she had lost all her savings.

Reports suggest that the robbery was not the first in the branch.  “A few months ago, a gold appraiser stole 100 sovereigns of gold from the lockers and replaced it with duplicate jewels. The issue came to light when one of the customers tried to sell his jewels,” said a bank official on condition of anonymity. More than robbers fleeting away with close to 48kg of gold worth – the lurking fear on adequacy of compensation is the talk of the villages.   It is reported that agitated public, who had mortgaged their jewellery with the bank gathered around the branch, even as the police cordoned off the area. Security lapses were evident in the bank that had been servicing the area for over two decades, police sources said. There was no night guard in the bank, and of the five CCTV cameras, two cameras were dysfunctional. One of the cameras along with a dysfunctional sound alarm was placed right at the entrance of the bank. Except for the entrance of the bank that was secured by a sliding shutter, the rear entries were feeble wooden doors and were broken by the burglars.

A higher official of the Bank is quoted as saying that the compensation for the jewellery stolen in the weekend heist will be based on the bank guidelines and master policy. “There are no ifs and buts in this case. Every single person will be compensated,” However, it is unclear if the remediation will be based on the current market value.  Generally, the gross weight value on the date of burglary will be considered, says another senior official with the bank.  Outside the robbed bank, those who had lost their jewels were, however, assured that their loss will be compensated on market value, deducting the loan amount along with the interest as on date of settlement.

Later, there was some calm after the bank put up a notice listing the mortgage accounts that were still intact in the other safe. Five accounts were closed after the owners took back the mortgaged jewellery on payment of the loan amount. 

If it is not mortgaged jewellery, there is no way, the bank could make out as to what was lost from the lockers, if they had been breached.  As per the RBI policy: “The bank will, in no way, be responsible/liable for the contents kept in the locker by the hirer. In case of theft, burglary or similar unforeseen events, action will be initiated as per law.” The RBI has also earlier stated that even if the banks do not know about the contents of the locker, they should take necessary steps to protect the contents in the locker.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

29th Jan 2015.

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