Four bank employees were recently taken into custody by the police on suspicion of stealing gold valued at Rs 4 crore from a Bank of Baroda branch situated within the Manipur University campus in Imphal.
Notably, the Bank of Baroda branch manager who had lodged the report regarding the missing gold was also taken into custody. The gold was missing and the vault’s strong room lock was found to be smashed, according to the FIR.
The police deduced that the gold was taken between September 12 and 13 from the Bank of Baroda after reviewing CCTV footage from the establishment. However, the incident wasn’t made public until September 17, when the cashier attempted to access the vault strong room after the Valley’s curfew was loosened.
A curfew was implemented by the state across the five Valley districts on September 12 in response to the increasing violence caused by large student protests.
The investigation into the stolen gold led to the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT). Branch manager Ganga Ningombam was next in line for questioning by the SIT after three bank employees—Gary Nongmaithem, Akoijam Ranesh, and Khaidem Jackychand—were first picked up.
On Saturday, a judge placed Nongmaithem, Ranesh, and Jackychand under five days of police custody remand. On Sunday, the branch manager was placed under four days of police custody by the same court.