Thieves flee with 59 kg of gold from Canara Bank Mangoli branch in Karnataka's Vijayapura

NEW DELHI: In a major case of thievery, 59 kg of gold was stolen from the Mangoli branch of Canara Bank, officials confirmed on Monday. The stolen gold belonged to people who had deposited it with the bank in exchange for loans, said Vijayapura Superintendent of Police Laxman B.

The theft came to light after bank officials' internal assessment confirmed that the gold was missing.

According to police, the branch was last open on the evening of May 23. It remained closed over the weekend—May 24 and 25 being the fourth Saturday and Sunday. On May 26, a bank peon arrived to clean the premises and discovered that the shutter locks had been broken. The police were immediately alerted."After inspection, it was found that the thieves had sneaked into the bank and stolen the booty," Nimbargi said.

"Bank officials have evaluated the booty and found that 59 kg of gold had been stolen. The gold was deposited with the bank against gold loan."Based on preliminary findings, police suspect the theft occurred on the night between May 24 and 25.Eight teams have been constituted to investigate the case. "The investigation is underway. We will soon arrest the accused and take the case to its logical end," added a police officer.