A bank appraiser was arrested for allegedly stealing gold ornaments pledged by customers with the bank and fraudulently opening gold loan accounts using fake ornaments, police said on Wednesday.
The accused was identified as Pavan Kumar (30), a resident of Doddaballapura, they said. The case came to light after the bank’s regional manager lodged a complaint at Rajanukunte police station on October 9.
In her complaint, the regional manager alleged that the accused had fraudulently opened gold loan accounts in the names of other individuals and pledged fake gold ornaments in those accounts, thereby cheating the bank of Rs 35.40 lakh.
According to police, she further alleged that the accused had stolen a total of 1 kg and 198 grams of gold ornaments pledged by various customers against their gold loans and subsequently pledged the stolen ornaments at different places to get money. A case was registered at Rajanukunte police station in this regard.
During the investigation, police conducted inquiries from various angles and gathered information about the accused through their informants. “On October 13, the accused was taken into custody from his residential house near Rojipura Gate in Doddaballapura and subjected to interrogation, during which he confessed to his involvement in the case,” a senior police officer said.