Mumbai: A bank employee was arrested from Uttar Pradesh by Dindoshi police for making a duplicate key to misappropriate gold and diamonds worth Rs 66.3 lakh from a customer’s bank locker in Mumbai. Police are currently in the process of recovering the valuables from UP.Police said the valuables were misappropriated in 2024 from a locker jointly operated by a homemaker and her husband—a garments businessman—at a nationalised bank in Goregaon.According to the FIR, the couple were initially assigned a small locker by the bank. They objected to this and asked for a larger locker. They were given a large locker in Feb 2024. The homemaker had received gold jewellery and gold coins as gifts at her wedding, which she kept in the locker. Besides that, the couple kept silver coins, silver bars, diamond ornaments and cash in the locker. Two keys were required simultaneously to open the locker. While one set of keys was with the couple, the master key remained with the bank. To close the locker, the master key was not required.Between Feb and July 2024, the couple removed various ornaments from the locker from time to time for use at events. They also removed some of the cash and other valuables and kept them at home. They kept a detailed record of the valuables left in the locker, along with photographs.In Oct 2024, the couple discovered that jewellery worth Rs 66.3 lakh was missing from the locker. They complained to the bank and an internal inquiry was carried out.Eventually, the couple approached police and an FIR was registered in June this year. A Dindoshi police team supervised by DCP Gajanan Rajmane and senior inspector Mahendra Shinde made inquiries with bank employees.Investigations revealed the involvement of a bank employee, G Sharma, who had since taken a transfer from Mumbai to UP. Police said Sharma had made duplicate keys to access the locker while he was posted in Mumbai. A team arrested him from Gorakhpur and brought him to Mumbai.
