Kanpur Woman Alleges ₹50 Lakh Jewellery Missing From SBI Locker, FIR Against Branch Manager

Kanpur (UP): A case of missing jewellery from a State Bank of India (SBI) branch has come to light in Kanpur, with a widow alleging that jewellery worth around Rs 50 lakh vanished from her locker.

Police have registered an FIR against the branch manager and unidentified staff members, said a senior police official on Thursday.

Rashmi Arora, a resident of Kaushalpuri, who lodged an FIR, said she had opened a savings account at the then State Bank of Travancore branch in 2003 and was allotted Locker number 23.

After her husband's death, she shifted to Lucknow and did not operate the locker for several years.

Locker access dispute

About four months ago, she visited the Swaroop Nagar branch and learnt that the erstwhile State Bank of Travancore had merged with SBI.

She alleged that although locker charges continued to be deducted from her account after the merger, she was initially unable to inspect the locker.

Arora said that on July 21, after depositing the locker charges, bank officials confirmed her locker number.

However, she could not open the locker that day as she did not have the key. When she returned with the key on July 27, she allegedly found the locker completely empty.

Police begin investigation

She alleged in her FIR that bank officials had initially denied the existence of her locker and acknowledged it only after she produced account documents and records showing deduction of locker charges.

She accused the branch manager and staff of conspiring to misappropriate the jewellery.

After the complaint reached Commissioner of Police Raghubir Lal, he ordered an investigation on August 6. Subsequently, Swaroop Nagar police registered an FIR on August 10 against the branch manager and unidentified employees.

Station House Officer (Swaroop Nagar) Devendra Singh said police are examining the bank's records, locker-related documents and CCTV footage, and further action will be taken on the basis of the evidence.

(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)