Gone, locker and stock

If you feel that all the money and gold that you have made by the sweat of your brow is safe in bank lockers, think again. Recently, ornaments worth lakhs did the vanishing act from a private sector bank, leaving bankers perplexed, owners hassled and police groping. Was it an inside job? Or a smart conman at work? Customers, however, have no choice. Somendra sharma takes a look

On a balmy afternoon, Mrs Ashwini Kale (name changed) walked into her Pali Hills, Bandra bank to collect some of the ornaments that she had kept in the locker. When she turned in the key and yanked the door open, she just stood rooted in surprise and anger.

The vault was empty as if somebody had wiped it clean. It took some time to sink in that she had lost her love’s labour. The diamond and gold that she had painstakingly collected, spending lakhs, was gone. She could not believe that this could happen with private banks who advertise themselves on quality service and trust. 

The incident explodes the myth that bank lockers are the safest place where you can stash away your valuable possessions. In fact, such is the ‘efficacy’ of the system, that people have twisted the provision by using it as a dump for even illegal things like arms and ammo.

The jeopardy works on both sides. While bank customers would be easily led to conclude that such instances cannot occur unless there are moles operating, the banks stand the risk of losing their integrity. Kale lodged a complaint with the Khar police. But what she finds unable to come to terms with is that she lost her valuables worth Rs54lakh — a collection that was close to her heart.

The police probe led by Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone IX), VK Chaubey ran into a wall. Said he: “We have been unable to make any headway. We did subject some senior bank officials to some intense questioning, but little came of it. It is really strange that jewellry worth lakhs vanishes into thin air from a fort-like bank locker. We scoured the bank register that records of people who open the locker. We found no suspicious entry.”

Neeraj Jha, Head, Corporate Communications, HDFC Bank — from whose locker the jewellry was found missing — was equally bewildered. According to him, “The bank had conducted its own internal enquiry into the matter. We did not find anything that raised our eyebrows. Nor was there any security lapse. Of course, the police investigations are still on.”

DCP Chaubey was at pains to explain the procedure of opening a bank locker. Apparently, it is fair and rigorous enough. The bank vault contains many lockers. There are two different keys required to open the vault, which lie with the custodian. On opening the vault, the customer and custodian approach the locker.

The locker is operated simultaneously with two keys. While one key lies with the banker, the other lies with the locker owner. There are no duplicate keys. In case, if either of the keys is lost, the bank breaks the locker in front of the locker owner. A new locker is then given to the customer with its respective key.

The police are also seized of the fact that the entire process has some loose ends. For one, it is possible for a customer to hide any questionable material — it could be a gun, it could be anything illegal — in the bank locker.

Now the police plan to conduct a meeting with the bank managements and discuss the security aspects that need to be in place on the issue of locker operations.