A woman has lodged a complaint at the Gamdevi police station, stating that her jewellery worth ₹12 lakh, kept in a bank locker, has been stolen. In this case, the police have registered an FIR and initiated an investigation. A month ago, two cases of theft from bank lockers were reported at the Malabar Hill police station, resulting in the arrest of the bank employee who was the custodian of the locker.
According to the information received from the Gamdevi police, Mila Sampat (57), currently residing in Andheri (East), filed a complaint with the police. She owns a locker at the Bank of India branch located on Bhulabhai Desai Road, Mahalaxmi, in which she had stored valuable watches along with gold and diamond ornaments. She used to access this locker once a year.
Power outage
Sampat informed the police that in January 2020, she opened the locker and verified that her gold and diamond ornaments were still inside. Due to the subsequent lockdown, she did not access the locker in 2020 and 2021. She visited the bank in June 2022 to check the locker. However, when she entered the room containing the locker, a power outage occurred. Sampat notified a bank employee about her intention to inspect the locker, but since there was no electricity, she was advised to return later. Unfortunately, the power remained unavailable.
In August 2022, Sampat received a WhatsApp message informing her that the bank was relocating, and she needed to quickly empty her bank locker. Acting on the message, she visited the bank to check the locker, only to find that the gold and diamond ornaments were missing.
Bank manager did not address her concerns
Upon discovering the missing jewelry, Sampat reported the matter to the bank manager, who did not address her concerns. Frustrated by the lack of response from the bank officials, she lodged a complaint at the Gamdevi police station.
Following Sampat's complaint, the Gamdevi police launched an investigation and registered an FIR under Section 380 of the IPC.
A police officer revealed that Meela Sampat was married in 1984. Initially, the locker was registered under the names of her mother-in-law and husband. Later, her name was added to the locker. After Meela's husband passed away in 2007, the locker was re-registered in her name.
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