Kakinada police arrest gold appraiser over alleged bank collateral swap

Police in India's Kakinada have arrested Narava Suribabu, a 59-year-old Bank of Baroda gold appraiser, on suspicion of replacing pledged jewellery with imitations.

Police allege that the substitution involved jewellery pledged against 44 gold-loan accounts. Suribabu, a resident of Cheediga village, subsequently disappeared. The alleged wrongdoing came to light recently.

The appraiser worked at the bank branch near Government General Hospital in Kakinada. Police superintendent G. Bindhu Madhav said gold jewellery worth 1.45 crore rupees was recovered from the suspect on Saturday.

A case has been registered under Section 316(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, concerning criminal breach of trust. The provision carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison.

The investigation is continuing. The arrest and recovery of jewellery do not establish that a court has found Suribabu guilty. Police did not announce a conviction.