At least 17 kg of gold and cash, estimated to be worth around Rs 3.45 crore, went missing after an alleged theft from the strong room of Andhra Bank’s Yadamarri branch in the state's Chittoor district.
The bank was located close to the Bengaluru-Chittoor highway near Amara Raja Digital City and the police suspect an insider job behind the theft, as there was no sign of a break-in. Investigation officials also suspect that the strong room was opened by using the master keys.
“We inspected the scene of offence and found that all the locks of the doors and even the shutter were intact. There was no sign of any break-in or forcible entry. The bank was closed on Friday evening. On Saturday, the manager was the only one who came to the bank, stayed till 1 pm before leaving for home. The bank was opened only on Monday morning,’’ Chittoor Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Eeshwar Reddy was quoted as saying.
A forensic team was also pressed into action, to collect evidence from the scene of the crime.
Investigation officials also said that the hard disc of the CCTV cameras was missing, thereby suggesting that the accused had planned the crime well in advance.
A case has been registered and further investigation is underway.
In July this year, a cashier working with the State Bank of India (SBI) was arrested in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh after he allegedly stole cash and gold amounting to over Rs 80 lakh from the locker of the branch where he worked.
Srinivas Rao, who worked in SBI's Paritala branch under the jurisdiction of the Kanchikacherla police, had the keys to the bank locker and used to handle cash and gold transactions, in violation of the norms.
The rules state that only the branch manager is allowed to keep the locker keys but Srinivas was reported to be close to the former branch manager, who gave him the keys.