Shock and surprise greeted Avarampalayam resident Ganesan when he went to his bank on Tuesday to get the jewels that he had pledged. When he received the jewellery, he realised he had been handed over brass jewellery instead of the gold jewels he had pledged.
Accompanied by financier Sitaraman, Ganesan had come with Rs 3 lakh to the Kovai branch of Central Bank of India to close his loan. After realising he was given brass jewellery, Ganesan and his friends immediately raised the issue with the branch officials. They accused the bank officials of cheating the customers by giving fake jewellery in the place of the originals.
Ganesan immediately dialled the police to the spot and reported the issue to them. According to a police officer, the bank officials told the police that the officer in-charge for gold jewellery valuation, Karthik, had kept duplicate jewellery in the place of original ones. They also informed the police that an internal probe is in progress in the branch and that Karthik was absconding.
Speaking to TNM, Kalamani, Ganesan’s wife said, “My husband is with the police since morning for questioning and I am in the bank. The officers are conducting inquiries based on our complaints and hence I am waiting for them to finish.”
The police told TNM that the bank officials assured the customers that action will be taken after their internal probe is concluded.
“No FIR has been registered yet since the bank officials asked for some time to finish their probe and the complainants were okay with that. We have just conducted a preliminary inquiry with Ganesan and the people with whom he went to the bank. The bank employee Karthik is also absconding now and hence we are waiting for the word from the branch,” said a police officer, on the condition of anonymity.