Three Bank of Baroda officials arrested in gold loan fraud case
Three Bank of Baroda officials were arrested for alleged irregularities in gold loan accounts at the Jangareddygudem branch.
Police in Eluru district have arrested three officials of the Bank of Baroda's Jangareddygudem branch in connection with an alleged gold loan fraud. The arrests follow an investigation into irregularities in gold loan accounts at the branch.
The detained officials have been identified as Kumarapu Bhaskar Rao, the then branch manager, T. Ajay Babu, joint manager, and J. Sairaj, credit officer. Eluru district Superintendent of Police K. Pratap Shiva Kishore confirmed the arrests.
Earlier, authorities had taken gold appraiser Chalapaka Raju into custody. Approximately 4.120 kg of gold ornaments and ₹10 lakh in cash were recovered from his possession, according to Jangareddygudem Deputy Superintendent of Police B.H. Venkateswarlu.
The investigation revealed that Raju, described as the alleged kingpin, colluded with the bank staff to replace original gold ornaments kept in lockers with fake ones, thereby looting the jewellery.
Police stated that evidence has been gathered establishing the involvement of the bank officials in the racket. A detailed investigation is underway, with authorities scrutinising records, accounts, and customer bank books. The role of any other individuals is also being examined, the SP added.