SBI locker opened after software migration shows it empty, 4 held in Gurgaon

Gurgaon: Four bank officials were arrested for allegedly breaking open a locker belonging to a chartered accountant at State Bank of India branch in Sector 15, Faridabad, without following due procedure.During questioning, the accused told investigators that the locker appeared "empty" after locker data was migrated from the bank's Core Banking System (CBS) to a new LAMP software in March 2024. All valuables were intact in the lockers but this was not reflecting. Police said RBI norms for breaking lockers were not followed and several irregularities surfaced during the probe, including calling an unauthorised vendor through WhatsApp and routing payments through the bank staff's accounts. The chartered accountant, DC Garg, said the bank allotted the locker to another person without informing him, even though the locker fee was regularly deducted from his account and he still possessed the key. He said that the locker, which he operated since 2014, contained about 1kg of gold and 3kg of silver jewellery. Those arrested include then branch manager Preeti Kataria, service manager Bhavana Narwal, AK Singh and vendor Neeraj Sharma. A court remanded them in police custody till March 11. "The accused told investigators that the issue arose when locker data was shifted from the earlier Core Banking System (CBS) to a new locker management software called LAMP in March 2024," an official said.Police said 793 lockers were transferred during the process. Of these, 686 lockers were transferred in the first phase and 102 in the second phase. Five lockers, including Garg's, appeared vacant in the system and were not transferred to the new software. Bank officials told police that they decided to break open those lockers after they appeared empty in the system."The crime branch, however, found that the procedure for breaking lockers prescribed by RBI was not followed," the official added.Deputy commissioner of police (crime) Mukesh Malhotra said: "Investigators found serious irregularities in the process of breaking the lockers, which indicates possible wrongdoing." Police plan to seek an extension of the remand for further questioning, he added.Investigators also found discrepancies in the way the locker was opened and payments were made. "The locker belonged to a company that manufactures locker systems for banks, but the vendor called to break it was authorised by another company. Despite this, the branch manager allowed him to carry out the work," the officer said.Instead of issuing a formal authorisation letter, the vendor was contacted through a WhatsApp message, the officer added. Police also found that Rs 50,000 for the work was transferred from the account of Hema, the wife of a computer operator working at the bank. Additionally, 12 bills of Rs 15,000 each were generated in the name of the operator, Tahir, on the pretext of locker replacement, and payments were processed through the bank.