1 cr gold goes missing from dead woman’s bank locker
Times of India | 17 April 2026
Kolkata: The Gariahat Police have moved a local court seeking permission to initiate a full-scale criminal investigation into the disappearance of high-value gold jewellery from a bank locker of a deceased senior citizen.
The move comes after a preliminary enquiry suggested that a few acquaintances of the woman had allegedly siphoned off the ornaments by exploiting the elderly woman's failing health and complete trust in them. The loss is expected to be close to Rs 1 crore, police sources claimed.
The matter came to light following a complaint by the niece of the deceased. According to cops, the deceased and her niece maintained a joint locker at a public sector bank's Ballygunge branch on Gariahat Road. While the locker was held jointly, the keys remained in the possession of the aunt until her demise on Nov 30, 2022.
The theft was discovered on Nov 16, 2023, when her niece visited the bank to prepare an inventory of the assets following an order from the Calcutta High Court. To her shock, the locker was found entirely empty.
A subsequent enquiry conducted by the Gariahat Police has cast a shadow of suspicion on the deceased woman's trusted man and his immediate family. The police report names two men and a woman.
Bank records and witness statements gathered during the enquiry indicate that the trio frequently accompanied the senior citizen to the bank during her final years. Investigators believe that the accused utilised their proximity to the octogenarian to gain access to the locker.
"The enquiry reveals a prima facie case of criminal conspiracy. Taking advantage of the victim's vulnerable condition and advanced age, the accused persons allegedly removed the gold ornaments in furtherance of a common intention," a senior investigating officer said.
Cops have informed the court that the misappropriation likely occurred through repeated visits before the locker was officially declared stagnant. The complainant has alleged that she never operated the locker herself, leaving the deceased as the sole point of access — an access point the police believe was compromised by her "trusted" acquaintances.
The Gariahat Police are now seeking to convert the enquiry into a formal First Information Report (FIR) under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) pertaining to criminal breach of trust, cheating and conspiracy.
If granted, the police are expected to scrutinise bank CCTV footage and entry registers to pin down the exact dates the gold vanished.