Bengaluru: Tension prevailed in Girinagar after a group of customers staged a protest on Thursday in front of Indian Bank's branch in the locality, alleging large-scale misappropriation of pledged gold ornaments by an assistant manager to fund his online betting addiction.
The protest comes in the wake of a complaint filed by the bank's Chief Manager, Dilip Kumar, with the police on February 5, 2026, detailing a major fraud involving gold loan accounts.
A senior police officer said that according to the FIR, the irregularities came to light on February 2 when a female customer approached the Girinagar branch to close her gold loan account. During the process of returning the pledged ornaments, branch manager Trupti Jha found that some jewellery was missing from the packet. The issue was immediately reported to the bank's zonal office.
Following this, zonal office authorities conducted a comprehensive audit of all gold loan packets in the branch. The branch had 207 gold loan packets sanctioned between January 10, 2025, and January 31, 2026, and the inspection revealed that ornaments were partially missing in 21 packets. Gold connected to three packets and worth Rs 4.12 crore was found missing.
The suspect, Kiran Kumar E, had been working as an assistant manager at the Girinagar branch since June 24, 2025, and remained absent subsequently. He later appeared before officials at the zonal office and reportedly confessed to stealing gold ornaments from pledged packets. In his statement, he claimed that no other staff members were involved in the crime.
Bengaluru: Doctor lodges complaint over Rs 24-lakh jewellery missing from bank lockerHe further disclosed that he had pledged the stolen jewellery at multiple private financial institutions in Kathriguppe and MS Palya, and produced receipts of the pledged gold before officials. Based on the complaint, Kiran Kumar was arrested and remanded in judicial custody.
Meanwhile, a group of angry customers gathered outside the branch, accusing the bank of negligence and demanding accountability. Many said they had pledged their family gold in good faith while availing loans and now feared losses. They urged the bank authorities to ensure full recovery of the ornaments and strict action against those responsible.
Some customers are unable to get back their remaining gold, as the bank authorities have claimed that since the case is under investigation and the lockers have been seized, they cannot return the ornaments yet, the protesters alleged.
Girinagar police said they are yet to file a chargesheet before the court, and the bank staff will have to get court permission to hand over the ornaments to the customers.