In a major heist, thieves made away with gold ornaments and cash worth nearly Rs. 6 crore after entering the Kaveri Grameen Bank’s branch at Hirisave in Channarayapatna taluk on Sunday night. The thieves entered the bank by drilling a hole in the back wall.
They opened a locker using a metal cutter and took away gold ornaments and Rs. 14,46,845 in cash. The thieves damaged the CCTV camera inside and carried away the digital video recorder (DVR) as well. The incident came to light on Monday morning when bank staff opened the shutters.
“The bank officers are checking the records to calculate the total value of gold stolen. According to initial estimates, it may be anywhere between Rs. 4 crore and Rs. 6 crore,” said Ravi D. Channannavar, Superintendent of Police. The wall which the thieves drilled is not strong; it has a thickness of only around 4.5 inches.
The police have highlighted the bank’s negligence as one of the reasons for the heist. Thieves had attempted stealing valuables from the bank on July 17, 2014. Following that incident, senior police officers, including the SP, instructed officials to post a security guard at the bank. “We told the bank in writing to appoint a security guard, install CCTV cameras with two DVRs: one in the bank and another in an undisclosed place. The bank installed only one DVR, which the thieves took away, and they did not appoint a security guard. When they keep valuables of such high value, why can’t they have proper security in place,” the SP wondered.
All the gold ornaments, pledged by nearly 800 customers, were kept in one locker. However, D. Somasekara Sastry, chairman of the bank, who visited the bank, told mediapersons that customers need not worry as all the valuables were insured by the bank.
However, customers are not convinced. Many of them have taken loans after pledging their jewellery.
Customers worried
An anxious customer, Raghu, rushed to the branch with his loan documents on Monday morning as soon as he learnt about the heist. “I don’t know when I will get back my valuables. I was planning to take back the jewellery in a couple of days by clearing the loan. Even if the bank has insurance, it takes a long time to recover the jewellery,” he said.
Another customer, Venugopal, said: “They should have taken enough security measures. They are assuring us that we will get our valuables back. But they are not clear on when it will be returned”
