Police say 610 grams of jewellery belonging to a Dubai-based NRI was recovered after the accused allegedly pledged it with gold-loan firms
MUMBAI — Mumbai Police have arrested a former deputy branch manager of a private bank for allegedly misappropriating gold jewellery worth about Rs 82 lakh from the locker of a Non-Resident Indian (NRI) customer in Kandivali.
The accused, identified as 35-year-old Kuldeep Sahni, has been booked for criminal breach of trust. Police allege that the jewellery was removed from the locker and subsequently pledged with several firms dealing in gold-backed loans.
The complainant, a Dubai-based man in his seventies who has lived in the UAE for more than five decades, had kept around 610 grams of gold jewellery in a locker at the bank’s Kandivali branch in March 2024. The jewellery was then valued at about Rs 81.8 lakh.
When he returned to Mumbai nearly two years later and checked the locker, he found the jewellery missing. After failing to receive a satisfactory explanation from the bank, he approached Kandivali Police and filed a complaint on August 12.
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Investigators faced difficulties obtaining CCTV footage because the alleged theft had occurred nearly two years earlier
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They instead examined bank records and found that Sahni had been involved in providing access to the customer’s locker
Police then scrutinised Sahni’s financial transactions over the previous two years. His accounts showed transactions totalling around Rs 9 crore, with a significant number involving companies engaged in gold mortgage and lending.
Investigators contacted the firms and obtained photographs of jewellery pledged by Sahni. Police said some of the ornaments matched those reported missing by the NRI.
The jewellery, valued at around Rs 81.8 lakh, was subsequently recovered, and Sahni was arrested within four days of the complaint being registered. Police are continuing their investigation to determine whether anyone else was involved.
