Lucknow bank heist: Deposits not returned even three months later, locker owners left in despair
A 73-year-old retired HAL employee allegedly died by suicide on Tuesday after he failed to get back jewellery worth ₹26 lakh that he had stored in one of the 42 lockers that were targeted.
More than three months have passed since the sensational heist at a bank’s Chinhat branch in Lucknow. However, people who lost their valuables from 42 bank lockers during the heist are yet to hear back from the authorities about their missing deposits.
Neither Indian Overseas Bank, whose branch was targeted in the wee hours of December 22, nor police officials have issued any clarity about the situation even after several valuables were recovered from the robbers--some of whom were arrested and others killed in police encounters within days of the incident.
The slow progress in returning the deposits of 45 customers has taken a personal toll on some. So far, police have recovered about 6 kg of gold, 14 kg of silver and ₹13 lakh in cash that were deposited in the lockers.
In a recent case, a 73-year-old retired Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) employee allegedly died by suicide on Tuesday after he failed to get back jewellery worth ₹26 lakh that he had stored in one of the 42 lockers that were targeted. His family members claimed that he was deeply upset since he had bought the jewellery from his life’s savings.
His son added: “The locker number 57 belonged to my father. My mother died in 2020, which was very upsetting for my father. Not getting back the jewellery stored in the locker added to his frustration.” The son said when he reached home from work around 5:30 pm, he found his father dead in the lobby.
The body had been sent for a postmortem examination, said Bharat Pathak, the station house officer (SHO) of Chinhat police station.
Explaining her agony, another locker holder Jyoti Srivastava said: “I have visited the bank more than 12 times since the heist to inquire about the status of my jewellery. A week after the incident, a form was given to us. In two or three days, I attached receipts, photos, weight and design details of the stolen jewellery to the form and submitted it to the authorities. But nothing has happened after that,” said the Tiwariganj resident. “We’re added to a WhatsApp group to update us on the progress, but we’ve hardly heard any positive response in these three months. I can’t get my daughter married because of this,” she added.
Shashikala, who also lost jewellery during the heist, said: “A year ago, my husband died of cancer. All our savings were spent on his treatment... We had deposited all our jewellery in the bank’s locker for my daughter’s wedding. While the wedding is decided, we can’t decide on a date because of the missing jewellery.”
The SHO of Gomti Nagar police station, Rajesh Tripathi said: “A charge sheet has been filed against the accused who were arrested and those who died during encounters. As far as the return of the recovered deposits is concerned, it is up to the court.”
Additional deputy commissioner of police (East) Pankaj Kumar Singh, who has been tasked with overseeing the return of the recovered deposits to their owners, could not be contacted for comment.
