Rs.75 Lakh missing from SBI Currency Chest in Shimla
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A big case of financial misconduct has been reported in SBI Currency Chest in Shimla.
Rs 75 lakh has going missing from the currency chest of the State Bank of India (SBI), Kotkhai branch in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh.
According to the bank, the then Service Manager, Ashutosh Kumar Chandravanshi, is responsible such huge fraud. Along with him, current Service Manager Subhash Pal and Cash Officer Deepak Kumar have also been accused because they failed to fulfill their custodial duties.
The issue came to light on 6th August 2025, when bank officials carried out their regular bi-monthly verification of cash in the currency chest. During this checking, they discovered that 15 bundles of ₹500 notes, amounting to Rs 75 lakh, were missing. This shocked both the bank management and the investigating authorities.
After this, the bank conducted a detailed check of its records and registers but found no mistakes or mismatches in the system. Bank officials got suspicious that the money had been deliberately misappropriated.
On 7th August, a verification team from the Regional Business Office (RBO) was sent to the branch for further investigation. Senior officials, including Chief Managers of Operations and (D&VAS), examined the matter in detail. Even in this investigation, no system or dispatch error was found. This confirmed that the case was not due to clerical mistakes but likely due to fraud.
SBI filed complaint with the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau. The matter is now being investigated by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU).
An FIR was filed by SBI RBO-7 Shimla’s Regional Manager, Ved Prakash, naming Ashutosh Kumar Chandravanshi, Subhash Pal, and Deepak Kumar as accused of fraud and criminal misconduct.
The Vigilance Bureau has booked the accused under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)—314, 316 (2), 318 (4), 344, and 61 (2)—as well as Section 13 (1)(A) read with Section 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018.
The investigation is ongoing and more details will be released soon.
