Indian Bank Assistant Manager Arrested for ₹4 Crore Gold Theft Linked to Online Gambling Debt

The accused has been identified as Kiran Kumar (33), a resident of Vidyaranyapura and originally from Andhra Pradesh. Police have recovered approximately 250 grams of gold from his possession. According to officials, he had been working in various branches of a state-run bank since 2016 and was posted at the Indian Bank branch in Girinagar from June 2025.

The fraud came to light after a customer who had pledged gold ornaments six months ago approached the bank to close her loan and retrieve the jewellery. Upon full repayment, she found certain ornaments missing from the sealed packet and alerted the branch authorities.

An internal verification revealed that out of 207 gold loan packets sanctioned over the past year, nearly 21 packets had been tampered with, leading to the disappearance of 2.753 kg of gold.

During the investigation, Kiran reportedly appeared before the bank’s regional office and confessed to committing the theft. He allegedly disclosed that the stolen gold had been pledged at Manappuram Finance in Katriguppe and Muthoot Finance in MS Palya.

Based on the complaint, Girinagar police arrested the accused. Bengaluru South Division DCP Lokesh Jagalasar stated that the accused had accumulated gambling losses amounting to nearly ₹60 lakh over several years through online betting platforms.

To clear his mounting debts, he allegedly stole gold in phases over a six-month period and pledged it to raise funds, using the proceeds to repay portions of his loans. Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining jewellery and examine possible lapses in internal bank safeguards.