In the incident of robbery of 32 kg of gold jewelery from Federal Bank’s jewelery branch in Arumbakkam on Saturday, the bank management said that the jewelery will be returned as the jewelery is insured.
Police officials have also said that there has been progress in recovering the jewelery as CCTV footage has been found of the alleged thieves.
According to the police, Murugan, an employee of the Federal Bank, took two persons with him and threatened the bank manager and other officials and robbed the jewels.
Police say that Murugan and his friends, who planned to loot the jewels, drugged the bank security guard in a cold drink and when he passed out, threatened other employees at knife point, tied them up and took away the jewels.
Speaking to the media in this regard, Chennai North Zone Additional Commissioner Anbu said that he has collected full details of Murugan, who is said to be involved in the jewelery scam.
‘We have set up four special teams and are investigating. Customers who have pawned their jewellery, fear not. Balaji, Murugan’s cousin, has been arrested and is being interrogated. Also, efforts are underway to arrest the robbers by looking at the CCTV footage of the places where they went on the two-wheeler.
Therefore, the stolen jewels will be recovered and those involved in the robbery will be arrested,” he said. Tamil Nadu DGP Shailendra Babu has announced that a reward of Rs 1 lakh will be given to those who provide information about those involved in the robbery.
Bank is responsible for stolen jewelry
Speaking to BBC Tamil about the safety of stolen jewels, All India Bank Employees Federation General Secretary Venkatachalam said, “The bank is responsible for the jewels kept in the bank. In case of loss of goods in bank locker due to bank’s negligence, banks have to pay the customer. This amount is equivalent to 100 times the annual rent of a bank locker, RBI said recently. Besides, it has also been said that the CCTV footage should be kept in the bank for 180 days,” he says.
And to avoid losing the trust of customers due to such jewelery thefts, banks often concentrate on recovering jewelery or getting money for it, he says.
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