A massive financial fraud and theft involving high-value gold jewelry has come to light at a public sector bank branch in Akola, Maharashtra. Gold ornaments worth ₹1,07,25,660 and weighing approximately 715.044 grams have mysteriously vanished from the safe locker of the Central Bank of India branch located on Mahatma Gandhi Road. The sudden disappearance of such a substantial quantity of precious metal from a secured bank vault has sent shockwaves through the banking sector and triggered serious concerns regarding internal vault security and customer trust.
Sanitation Worker Named in Criminal Complaint
Following the discovery of the missing valuables, the City Kotwali Police Station launched a formal criminal investigation. Authorities have registered a case against 29-year-old Vaibhav Dhanraj Kolhe, a resident of Borgaon Khurd in Akola district, who was employed at the branch as a daily-wage sanitation worker. According to official details released by the police, 52-year-old Pankaj Kumar Kamala Prasad Srivastava, who serves as the Regional Head of Central Bank of India, held the administrative authority to hire contractual cleaning personnel for the branch and had recruited Kolhe for daily maintenance work.
Irregularities Discovered During Demand Loan Audit
The fraudulent scheme was uncovered during an internal audit of bank transactions conducted between August 28 and August 29, 2026. Bank officials reviewing operational records noticed major discrepancies in transactions associated with demand loan accounts. Subsequent physical verification of the gold collateral pledged against loans and stored inside the branch locker confirmed that gold ornaments weighing 715.044 grams were absent. Preliminary findings suggest that the culprit manipulated loan-related documentation and procedures to surreptitiously remove the pledged jewelry from the vault.
Lapses in Internal Vault Security Under Scrutiny
Law enforcement officials are investigating how a temporary daily-wage cleaner gained access to the bank's restricted locker area. Police are examining physical access logs, surveillance records, and internal protocols to determine how the gold was removed, where the stolen property has been hidden, and whether other bank employees or external accomplices were involved in the crime. The incident has raised critical questions about the adequacy of security measures inside nationalized bank branches, particularly regarding key custody and vault access controls.
Similar Bank Vault Crimes Reported in Other States
This incident in Maharashtra underscores a troubling trend of security breaches involving gold stored in bank lockers. Earlier, a similar high-value theft was recorded in Jharkhand at the Kabir Memorial branch of Canara Bank in Jamshedpur. In that case, gold jewelry pledged under gold loan schemes valued at ₹1,10,48,000 disappeared from the bank premises, leading to an official police complaint and widespread concern among account holders. The repeated occurrence of such insider breaches poses a challenge for financial institutions aiming to safeguard customer assets.
