Noida: People generally feel bank lockers are the safest place to store their valuables. However, in Noida’s Sector 51, a bank locker at Citizen Cooperative Bank was compromised, not by a thieves, but by termites.
In the surprising development, the termites in the locker destroyed Rs 5 lakh in cash and a box of carrying precious jewelry. Following the complaint, bank officials assured action as per RBI guidelines. The locker holder who speaks on condition of anonymity said that Rs 5 lakh were kept in his locker in the bank.
Currency notes rendered unusable
Some days back when the couple went to the bank to withdraw the money, they found termites had destroyed all the notes. Currency notes of Rs 2 lakh value were completely destroyed. The remaining Rs 3 lakh were found with the holes rendering them unusable.
Besides this, a box that contained jewelry was also completely badly damaged by the termites. According to the bank manager, Alok, the dampness in the bank’s walls led to the termite damaging the currency notes. However, he assured that other lockers were safe.
Branch manager assures action
The branch manager has assured action in line with RBI regulations. The locker fees at the bank ranges from Rs 2,000 to Rs 12,000 depending on the size of the locker.
And it is the responsibility of the bank to secure of contents of the locker which may contain important documents, property papers, valuable jewelry, and other items. However, RBI guidelines stipulates currency notes should not be kept in the lockers.
