Family keeps Rs 8 lakh cash in bank locker, finds it destroyed 6 months later

BENGALURU: A bank customer, who had kept Rs 8 lakh in a locker at Canara Bank’s Kotekar branch in Mangaluru is now at his wit’s end after all the cash was destroyed and turned to dust.

Safal Shetty’s mother had saved up some money from their agricultural income, which the family had kept in a bank locker, though it is not permitted. When Safal opened the locker after six months to withdraw money for medical expenses, he found that the locker was soaked and the money was completely destroyed by termites.

A bank employee himself opened the locker. The currency notes had become powdery as the locker was soaked in rainwater, and all of the Rs 8 lakh in cash was destroyed by termites. The bank authorities claimed that they were not responsible for the damage as it is against RBI rules to keep cash in a bank locker.

According to RBI rules, money cannot be kept in a locker, so the bank said that it has nothing to do with it. Therefore, Safal’s family members came to Bengaluru and complained to the head office, saying that the problem is due to poor maintenance of the old building, which led to the damage. They have requested that it be fixed.

Safal Shetty said, “The bank building is over 7-8 years old. My mother kept money inside the locker; she went to retrieve the money after 6-7 months. The entire locker was soaked in water and the cash was destroyed. There are so many evidences in the locker. Some scraps of paper and some kind of black powder was all that we found. I have reached out to every level of the bank management, starting from Mangaluru, to get justice. I have found cracks on the wall and water leakages. The bank has evidence; for now, they are denying to take responsibility and saying that we should have been more careful. It is complete negligence of bank service”.