Bank staffer held for stealing Rs 8.7 cr from currency chest in Ahmedabad

A Bank of Baroda employee in Ahmedabad was arrested for allegedly smuggling Rs 8.7 crore from an RBI currency chest and laundering the money into properties and cryptocurrency.

An employee of a public sector bank was arrested in Gujarat's Ahmedabad for allegedly smuggling Rs 8.7 crore out of an RBI currency chest and laundering the stolen money into properties and cryptocurrency, police said Sunday.

Acting on a tip-off, the police apprehended the accused, Harsiddh Kadiyar, a junior custodian with the Bank of Baroda, who executed the multi-crore theft on January 13, after tracking him down to the Sola area on Friday, Assistant Commissioner of Police D Division Hitendra Chaudhary said.

Kadiyar has been remanded in police custody until May 27, he said.

The official said that the accused was a junior joint custodian at the Bank of Baroda's Gandhi Road branch in the Kalupur area, which houses a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) currency chest.

According to police, Kadiyar, along with two contract labourers, allegedly smuggled the cash out of the bank under the guise of disposing of used iron boxes. However, the boxes were allegedly filled with currency notes worth Rs 8.7 crore.

The accused continued to report for work until April 20 to avoid suspicion, assuming that the CCTV footage capturing the theft would be automatically deleted after 90 days. He later disappeared and went on prolonged sick leave, ACP Chaudhary said.

He said the theft came to light during a routine verification ahead of an RBI inspection after a newly appointed in-charge of the currency chest noticed the missing currency notes.

An FIR was registered at the Kalupur police station on May 15, he said.

The police have recovered Rs 2.2 crore in cash from the boot of a car parked at the spot where Kadiyar was arrested.

During interrogation, Kadiyar confessed to using part of the stolen money to purchase a house in Chandkheda, a commercial vehicle, and a shop in Ahmedabad. He also allegedly gave Rs 23 lakh to a female colleague for purchasing a house and handed over an additional Rs 5 lakh in cash to her, police said.

The accused also began trading in cryptocurrency markets and invested a portion of the stolen money there, they said.