₹50 Lakh Worth of Gold Goes Missing from Bank of Baroda Locker
A shocking case of missing gold worth ₹50 lakh has come to light at the Bank of Baroda
Bhilai, Chhattisgarh: A shocking case of missing gold worth ₹50 lakh has come to light at the Bank of Baroda branch located in Indira Place Civic Center, Bhilai. The gold reportedly vanished from a locker belonging to a long-time customer, triggering serious allegations and a police investigation.
The locker, allotted back in 1991 to Darogha Singh, a resident of Sector-5, was said to contain approximately 40 tolas of gold, kept securely in three separate pouches. Singh claims he had neither accessed the gold himself nor allowed any family member to do so. However, the bank initially blamed the customer for mishandling.
According to Bhilai Nagar Police Station in-charge, Prashant Mishra, a case has now been registered against the Bank of Baroda management under Section 316(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and investigations are underway.
Darogha Singh stated that due to seepage issues in the locker room, he faced difficulty accessing his locker. After raising the issue with bank officials, locker in-charge Anita Koreti offered him a temporary locker (No. 547) while repairs were made to his original locker. Singh said he retained the keys during this transition period.
On January 17, 2025, Koreti informed Singh over the phone that his belongings had been shifted to the temporary locker and would be returned once the original locker was repaired. However, when Singh opened the locker on April 22, 2025, he found that two of the three pouches of gold were missing — only one pouch, belonging to his daughter-in-law, remained.
Singh clarified that he personally operated the locker, usually accompanied by his wife, Shyama Singh, and that his daughter Aradhana Singh had never accessed it. Contradicting this, bank officials claimed the locker had been accessed by Singh along with his daughter — a claim Aradhana firmly denied in her statement to the police.
The case took another turn when it was revealed that Godrej technician Sukhwinder Singh, also known as Sunny, had been called by the bank multiple times to repair the locker. Meanwhile, another bank official, Sharan Pal Chuga, stated that he was assigned locker-related duties on April 22 since Anita Koreti was on leave.
Durg Superintendent of Police, Vijay Agrawal, confirmed that a case has been registered and that Bhilai Nagar Police have begun formal investigations into the matter. The Bank of Baroda management, when approached, declined to comment and directed all queries to their head office.
