One more case of jewellery theft from Bank Locker has been reported in India. Gold, silver, and other valuables worth around ₹2 crore have been stolen from State Bank of India (SBI) branch in Faridabad. The customer – a chartered accountant has complained about loss of his earnings.
The incident took place at the Sector 15 Market branch of State Bank of India in Faridabad. According to the complaint, the locker belonged to chartered accountant DC Garg. He had been using the locker for the last 12 years.
Two days ago, Garg’s wife went to the bank to operate the locker. Bank officials told her that the locker did not exist at the branch anymore. This was surprising because the annual locker rent was deducted from Garg’s bank account until last year.
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After this, DC Garg and his family reached the bank and questioned the officials. The bank staff reportedly told them that no locker was registered in his name. Garg said he still has the original locker key. However, the bank claimed that the same locker number had been allotted to another person.
Garg said he had taken the locker in 2014. An annual fee of ₹2,360 was regularly deducted from his account. He alleged that the bank gave a duplicate key of his locker to another person.
According to Garg, bank officials suggested that he might have surrendered the locker earlier. He rejected this claim. He said that surrendering a locker requires paperwork and the original key must be returned to the bank. He said he still has the original key.
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Garg alleged that the locker was broken and later re-allotted to a person named Vikas Chauhan with the help of bank officials. He claimed that a duplicate key was issued. He said the locker had around 1.25 kg of gold bars, nearly 3 kg of silver, and other valuables. Garg said he does not know when the locker was broken or when the valuables went missing.
He said he has complained to the SBI headquarters and also to the bank chairman. After this, senior bank officials started an inquiry into the matter.
Whether SBI is at fault or not, it will be revealed after a detailed investigation is conducted in the case.
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What are the bank locker rules?
Bank locker rules in case of theft state that the bank will be held responsible for any loss of your locker contents caused by theft, burglary, or robbery. The bank shall be liable to pay you 100 times the prevailing safe deposit locker annual rent. This compensation also applies in case of fire, building collapse, or fraud.
Even if a very valuable item is stolen (e.g., jewellery worth ₹30 lakh), bank compensation will still be limited to the cap (like ₹2 lakh or ₹5 lakh as per rent). Anything above that is born by customer.
