The Ahmedabad Police on Friday arrested the joint custodian of the Bank of Baroda, Harsiddh Kadiyar, for allegedly embezzling Rs 8.70 crore. Kadiyar, a 15-year veteran of the bank, confessed to committing the massive theft to fund a lavish lifestyle.
The alleged theft came to light after the officials of the bank’s Kalupur branch, which also houses a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) currency chest to transfer funds to other banks, found that 174 bundles of Rs 500 notes, totalling Rs 8.70 crore, had gone missing from the vault that was handled by chief custodian Sanjay Sharma and joint custodian Harsiddh Kadiyar.
Bank officials reviewed CCTV footage and discovered that back on January 13, Kadiyar was captured leaving the bank with several boxes. At the time, he successfully deceived his colleagues by pretending the boxes were filled with garbage that he was going to throw away. He managed to continue working at the bank for 90 days after the theft, operating under the mistaken belief that the security CCTV footage would automatically overwrite and delete itself after three months.
After the period passed, Kadiyar disappeared from work, making an excuse of being unwell. On April 13, he applied for a five-day medical leave; however, he never came back to work after April 20.
The manager subsequently lodged a complaint at the local police station. Based on this information, the police started investigating the case.
The police arrested Kadiyar shortly after the complaint was filed. He confessed to the crime that he committed.
As the preliminary investigation suggests, Kadiyar used the stolen funds to purchase a bungalow in Chandkheda worth over Rs 2 crore, a shop worth Rs 1.40 crore, a small truck, and also invested a portion of the money into cryptocurrency.
He additionally gave a total of Rs 28 lakh to a co-worker, Vaishali Ben. Police have recovered Rs 2.20 crore in cash from an Ertiga car parked outside a residence in Sola where Kadiyar was staying, and have confiscated the vehicle alongside his mobile phone.
An investigation is currently underway to determine if his wife, who serves as a head constable in the Railway Police, was involved in the crime.
– Ends
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