JAIPUR: When officials at a Punjab National Bank branch in Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu district opened sealed gold-loan packets during a routine transfer of charge, they found not gold ornaments, but imitation jewellery. What followed was the unravelling of a fraud that, investigators say, involved missing gold worth more than ₹6.5 crore, forged loan records and a trail that now includes absconding bank officials and stunned depositors.
A Discovery Inside the Strong Room
The case surfaced on January 28 during the formal handover of charge of the gold safe to a new deputy manager, Seema Mahla, at the Punjab National Bank’s Nawalgarh-area branch. Until then, the keys to the strong room had been with the branch’s then manager, Amit Kumar Jangid, and deputy manager, Anant Prakash Chaudhary.
As packets were checked, officials noticed tampering. An internal inquiry later found that of roughly 450 sealed gold-loan packets stored in the strong room, 73 contained fake jewellery instead of real gold. Preliminary estimates put the missing gold at about 4.1 kilograms, with a market value exceeding ₹6.5 crore.
The bank reported the matter to the police, triggering a criminal investigation and a parallel internal probe.
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The Accused and the Expanding Investigation
Police have registered a case against the former branch manager Amit Kumar Jangid, deputy manager Anant Prakash Chaudhary, and a banking correspondent, Santosh Kumar, based on a complaint by a bank official, Mukesh Kumar Sihag. According to ASP Devendra Rajawat, all three accused are currently absconding, and police teams are conducting raids at multiple locations to arrest them.
Investigators say the inquiry has widened beyond the gold packets. Fake loans were allegedly disbursed in the names of individuals who either do not exist or were unaware that loans had been sanctioned in their names. Some of these loans, police said, were shown as issued under various government schemes, with women appearing to be the primary targets on paper.
Authorities are now assessing how much money was siphoned off through these methods, alongside the gold that went missing from the strong room.
Depositors Caught in the Middle
For customers who had pledged family jewellery against gold loans, the revelations have been devastating. Several borrowers told reporters they learned only days later that their own ornaments were among those replaced with imitation pieces.
One woman, who had taken a gold loan of ₹2 lakh for household expenses, said she had deposited a mangalsutra, nose rings, earrings and a gold chain. Another borrower, Suman Devi, said she had pledged around 100 grams of gold for a loan of ₹5.18 lakh, while her nephew and sister-in-law had also taken gold loans by depositing ornaments. All later discovered that their pledged gold was missing.
“We were saving gold for our daughter’s wedding. Now everything is gone,” said the husband of one depositor. “Bank officials say we will get it back, or the government will compensate us. But no one is telling us when or how.”
Money, Property and Official Responses
As scrutiny intensified, attention also turned to the personal assets of the accused manager. According to sources, Amit Kumar Jangid, who hails from Seethal Gudhagorji in Jhunjhunu district, had allegedly purchased land worth crores of rupees in recent years and set up a dairy operation. His family, local residents said, had modest sources of income, including farming and dairy work.
The bank has acknowledged wrongdoing by some employees. Punjab National Bank’s Assistant General Manager, Sudhir Kumar Sahu, said preliminary findings indicate that gold was stolen by staff members and that the bank is working to complete the claim settlement process so customers do not suffer losses. He also noted that technical difficulties are delaying some claims.
Meanwhile, police say the search for the accused continues, even as depositors wait for clarity on when their losses will be made good.
