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A shooting occurred at the State Bank of India branch in Varanasi on Friday afternoon. A female bank employee was injured when a revolver fired inside branch.
The accidental shooting occurred at the State Bank of India (SBI) branch in Christ Nagar (Chandmari) under the Shivpur police station area in Varanasi.
The injured employee was identified as Anuradha Tripathi, a contractual worker serving as a ‘Seva Sarthi’. She suffered a bullet wound to her right leg.
The firearm was a licensed revolver belonging to a customer named Sanjeev Shukla, a resident of Jaunpur who works as a General Manager for an NHAI-contracted infrastructure company.
Upon entering the branch to update his passbook and Yono application, Shukla preemptively handed over his loaded weapon to the security guard, Ramchandra Yadav, for safekeeping. The guard placed it inside a desk drawer. Later, when Tripathi opened the drawer, the revolver accidentally fell out, hit the floor, and discharged.
The loud gunshot caused temporary panic inside the bank over a feared robbery attempt. The branch manager immediately notified the authorities and rushed Tripathi to the Pandeypur District Hospital (Deen Dayal Hospital), where she is reported to be in stable condition and out of danger. The Shivpur local police have seized the firearm and launched a formal investigation into the safety oversight.
She collapsed, bleeding profusely, causing panic in the bank. The bank manager immediately informed the police and the injured woman was rushed to Deendayal Hospital. Police arrived at the scene and are investigating the cause of the incident.
Sanjeev Shukla, a licensed revolver holder and originally from Sujanganj, Jaunpur, said he currently lives in a rented house in Lodhan, Shivpur. His company, PP Pandey Infrastructure, is constructing the service lanes of the ring road.
On Friday afternoon, around 2:15, he went to the State Bank of India branch in Christ Nagar to update his YONO account and update his passbook. Then, he remembered he had his licensed revolver with him. As a precaution, he gave it to Ramchandra Yadav, the security guard posted at the door, to keep. He then began his bank work.
He took the revolver and placed it in the drawer of the counter near the main entrance. Around 2:40 a.m., Anuradha Tripathi, a contract employee at the bank, opened the drawer, and the revolver fell from the drawer and fired.
Bank manager Manoj Kumar filed a police complaint about the incident. Police are investigating all aspects of the incident. The woman is reported to be out of danger. However, the police have reviewed CCTV footage and are investigating the matter.
