Bank staffer helps woman pledge imitation jewels, held

The man was identified as Subramanian (46) of Tiruvottiyur working in Vijaya Bank in Adambakkam. According to the police, Subramanian has been working in the bank for a decade. He is in charge of checking the gold ornaments before granting a loan to the customers. Rajammal, a customer of the bank, applied for a gold loan a few months ago. She submitted gold ornaments for it. Subramanian checked the ornaments and certified it as gold, which led to her being granted her a loan of Rs 18 lakh.

Last week, senior officials of the bank came for inspection. When they checked the jewels in the locker, they found that few of them were not gold. When checked, they found all the imitation jewels belonged to Rajammal, which were approved by Subramanian.

However, officials added, Subramanian and Rajammal absconded two weeks ago itself, after learning that senior officials were going to check the jewels in the locker.

The branch manager filed a complaint with the Adambakkam police, who registered a case and have been searching for the duo. On Thursday, the officials received a tipoff that Subramanian visited his house in Tiruvottiyur. In the evening, police surrounded the house and arrested Subramanian, who was remanded in judicial custody.

Now, the search is on to nab Rajammal who is missing.