A case of missing jewellery from a bank locker at the Punjab National Bank (PNB) branch located in Mai Hira Gate has come to light which has created concern among customers and bank staff and according to the complaint a local resident Jatinder Chadda who lives in Sat Nagar has reported that gold jewellery weighing around 6 to 7 tolas has gone missing from his locker which reportedly included a necklace, earrings (jhumkas), a tikka and other items and is estimated to be worth nearly ₹10 lakh.
Jatinder Chadda said that the jewellery originally belonged to his family and it was gifted to his wife by his mother in the year 2000 and after his mother’s death in 2005 the family decided to keep the ornaments safe in a bank locker and later in 2007 the jewellery was deposited in Locker No. 336 at the Punjab National Bank branch.
He added that the locker had been operated from time to time over the years without any issue in fact as per his statement the jewellery was still present in the locker during a visit on April 13 this year however when he recently visited the bank again to deposit additional items he allegedly found the jewellery missing.
After discovering the loss the customer informed bank officials and raised a complaint with the branch manager and stated that he has been asked to submit a written complaint for further action while police were also informed about the incident who reached the bank to start an investigation.
Bank officials on the other hand have said that the matter is under review and that the case has been reported to higher authorities an they also mentioned that there are no CCTV cameras installed directly in the locker area which is expected to be an important point in the investigation and the police have recorded the statement of the complainant and have also spoken to bank officials including the branch manager while authorities have confirmed that a detailed investigation is underway to determine how the jewellery went missing and whether any security lapse occurred.
The incident has raised concerns among locker holders regarding safety and accountability in bank storage systems and further action will be taken once the investigation report is completed.
