Bank cleaner arrested for stealing gold worth Rs 1 crore from customer's locker

In a shocking breach of security at a public sector bank, over 700 grams of gold jewellery worth more than Rs 1 crore vanished from a bank locker in Akola, Maharashtra. The primary suspect behind this audacious heist is not a seasoned master criminal, but the branch's 29-year-old cleaner, who allegedly bypassed security measures using a duplicate key.THE INITIAL DISCOVERY AND ARRESTThe disappearance came to light during an ongoing police investigation into alleged irregularities surrounding certain demand loan transactions at the Central Bank of India branch in Akola. While probing these loan discrepancies, investigators uncovered a far larger crime of 715.044 grams of gold ornaments, with an estimated market value of Rs 1,07,25,660, were missing from a bank locker.Following the discovery, Pankajkumar Kamalaprasad Srivastava, the Regional Head of Central Bank of India, lodged a complaint with the authorities. Police arrested the 29-year-old suspect, and following a court appearance, he was remanded to police custody until September 4.HOW THE BREACH OCCURREDPreliminary findings indicate that Kolhe managed to craft a duplicate key to access the bank locker. Using this counterfeit key, he systematically removed over 700 grams of gold ornaments from the vault. Investigators are now focused on determining precisely when and how the duplicate key was made, as well as how the cleaner managed to gain unauthorized access to the bank's high-security locker system without raising alarms. FINANCIAL TRAIL AND MORTGAGED GOLDRather than selling the stolen jewellery outright, the accused opted for a different method to liquidate the assets. Preliminary police investigations revealed that Kolhe allegedly mortgaged the stolen gold ornaments across various finance companies. He then deposited the proceeds received from these pledge transactions directly into his own bank account.Law enforcement officials are currently examining documents and transaction records from these finance companies. They aim to verify the exact quantity of gold pledged, identify where it was mortgaged, and trace the monetary trail transferred into Kolhe's account. Police custody of the accused continues until September 4 as authorities work towards recovering the gold, mapping out all financial transactions, and determining whether anyone else played a role in this alleged crime.- EndsPublished On: Sep 3, 2026 21:19 IST