‘Absent’ officer, 96 missing gold packets: Inside UP bank theft

4 min readLucknowUpdated: Jun 19, 2026 05:22 PM IST

The three accused in police custody. (Express Photo)

Ninety six packets of gold, pledged by local residents as security for loans, disappeared from a vault at a nationalised bank in Bharaul, Firozabad.

An internal inquiry raised suspicions of internal collusion, leading to the arrest of three bank employees — branch manager Sandeep Yadav (36), credit officer Dilip Kumar (34), and staff officer Naresh Kumar (41).

“The branch manager and two staff officers of the local Bank of India branch have been booked for allegedly misappropriating 96 packets of gold that customers had pledged with the bank as security for loans,” said Superintendent of Police (SP), Firozabad, Aditya Langeh.

“Efforts are underway to trace and recover the missing gold. The role of other persons is being looked into,” he added.

While Naresh hails from Hathras, Dilip is from Etawah and Sandeep from Firozabad.

Much of the gold was jewellery that customers had entrusted to the bank while seeking financial assistance, added police.

Vault keys, a missing officer

According to police, access to the bank’s gold vault was governed by a dual-control system: the keys were held by two officers and the vault could be opened only when both keys were used together.

Story continues below this ad

If one of the designated custodians was absent, the key in their possession would be handed over to the branch manager, while the other remained with the credit officer.

According to police, the alleged fraud came to light after the manager of Bank of India’s Bharaul branch alerted the zonal office that Dilip — who was one of the custodians of the vault keys — had been absent from work since May 27.

Officials said, concerned by the situation, the zonal office deputed two senior officials to inspect the branch on June 15.

Under CCTV surveillance, the team opened the gold vault using a duplicate key stored at another branch and began verifying the packets of jewellery deposited by customers against gold loans — and found 96 packets of gold were missing.

Story continues below this ad

The inquiry team subsequently submitted its findings to the Zonal Office, which authorised the filing of a police complaint.

Police said the case was registered at Araon police station on a complaint filed by Aditya Pratap Singh, Chief Manager at the Bank of India’s Agra Zonal Office. The complaint alleged that bank officials had misappropriated gold packets that customers had entrusted to the branch as collateral for loans.

Police suspect the gold packets were stolen over the course of the past year.

SP Langeh said the bank is yet to provide them with an estimate of the value of the stolen gold.

Story continues below this ad

Widening probe

Police said a preliminary inquiry suggested that Dilip allegedly had a habit of online betting and gaming. During questioning, he reportedly told police that the gold removed from the vault had been pledged at another bank to obtain loans.

“Dilip claimed he mortgaged the gold at another bank and raised money against it. We are verifying his claim. We are also trying to establish the trail of the funds and determine where the money went after the loans were obtained,” a police officer said.

Police said Dilip developed a close relationship with the other two accused employees and gradually won their confidence, which they suspect enabled him to gain access to the second vault key as well

Dilip had used several bank accounts in his name and others to route the money, police claimed.

Story continues below this ad

Station House Officer of Araon police station, Rishi Kumar, said four associates of prime accused Dilip have been detained; they are suspected of helping him pledge the stolen gold at other banks to secure loans.