Bank manager steals coins worth Rs 84 lakh to buy lottery tickets in Bengal
Midnapore, Dec 16: No one would have slotted him as a thief or an embezzler; after all, Tarak Jaiswal had an unblemished record in the eight years he worked at the State Bank of India, the country’s biggest lender.
But Jaiswal, 35, a senior assistant manager at the bank’s branch in Memari, a town 82 km from Kolkata, in West Bengal’s East Burdwan district, had an itch -- gambling. And his position, as custodian of the currency chest, made it possible for him to scratch it. Over the 17 months he spent at the branch, he stole Rs 84 lakh -- all in coins.
Even assuming all the coins were the highest denomination publicly circulated, Rs 10, that would mean he spirited away 84,00,000 coins in the span of 17 months, or close to 50,000 coins every month, or 2,000 coins every day (assuming 25 working days).
But crime doesn’t pay -- not even in coins. He was arrested on Friday and confessed soon after; his undoing was an annual audit that began on November 27. On Saturday, a local court sent him to police custody for five days.
It turns out that Jaiswal took the risk to fund his addiction to lotteries.
“Jaiswal confessed to his crime and claimed that he spent the entire money on lottery tickets. We are trying to find out if he had an accomplice,” Bhaskar Mukherjee, superintendent of police, East Burdwan district, said.
The auditors found a huge quantity of currency notes and coins in the bank’s vault and asked officials to count the coins on November 29. Sensing that his game was up, Jaiswal stopped coming to office without applying for leave. The auditors detected a huge mismatch in the stock of coins.
Since Jaiswal handled all the cash at the end of each working day and was in charge of the currency chest, he became the prime suspect. When the auditors demanded his presence at the branch, Jaiswal sent his wife with the keys to the chest.
Tarun Kumar Saha, regional manager of the bank, lodged a complaint at Memari police station. “We filed a complaint when we found a huge amount of coins missing,” Saha said.
On Friday, Soubanik Mukherjee, a sub-divisional police officer, went to the bank and asked the branch manager to summon Jaiswal. After hours of grilling, the executive broke down.
“He said during interrogation that he always knew he would be caught someday but could not stop himself from buying lottery tickets. He also claimed that nobody in the bank helped him,” a police officer involved in the probe said on condition of anonymity.
The officer said the investigators are trying to figure out how Jaiswal transported the coins out of the bank.
Police have also asked the bank why it kept such huge amounts in coins.
The last audit at the branch was conducted in February 2017. “We will ask the branch to explain why such a huge quantity of coins was not sent to the regional office or the Reserve Bank of India. Jaiswal might have stolen currency notes as well since there was no one to check him,” the police officer added.
Courtesy: www.hindustantimes.com
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Press Club of India condemns 'manhandling' of UNI journalists during sealing of premises
New Delhi (PTI): The Press Club of India (PCI) on Saturday expressed deep shock and condemnation regarding the alleged "manhandling" of journalists during the sealing of the United News of India (UNI) premises by authorities following a high court order.
In a statement, the PCI said that several journalists at the news agency claimed they were physically removed by the Delhi Police and CRPF personnel from their workplace "by use of force", and were not even allowed to collect their personal belongings.
"The PCI expresses deep shock at the manhandling of journalists while at work at the United News of India premises at 9, Rafi Marg, New Delhi, by police last evening following a court order regarding a land dispute," the PCI said.
The PCI also condemned in the "strongest possible" terms the "highhandedness unleashed on the journalists, including women workers."
The PCI emphasised that the right to work is a constitutional right and stands in solidarity with the affected journalists. They maintained that the authorities should have exercised restraint, especially since the journalists had informed them that the management had not yet communicated the need to vacate the premises after the court order.
"PCI urges the authorities to take prompt action against whoever was responsible for such misconduct, as it would help instil confidence within the journalist fraternity that the right to work of the press is an important part of a democracy," the statement said.
The UNI premises were sealed by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs' Land and Development Office (L&DO) on Friday following a high court order -- a move the media organisation termed as an "unprecedented atrocity" and "attack on freedom of media".
