V. Krishna Reddy, a man in his 80s, was locked inside a bank locker room at Jubilee Hills on Monday, reportedly as the staff missed checking the room, called it a day and locked the premises.
The octogenarian was discovered 18 hours later on Tuesday when the bank staff opened the branch and the safe room for daily transactions .
Mr. Reddy’s family members, anxious that he did not return home on Monday, had also approached the local Jubilee Hills police station and filed a ‘missing person’ complaint. They suspected that he went missing from KBR Park where he usually goes for an evening walk.
Police, who began search operations based on CCTV footage, found that the senior citizen had proceeded towards Union Bank of India on Road number 36, and later disappeared.
Speaking to mediapersons, a senior bank official, who said he was not at the UBI branch on Monday, said the mistake took place as the regular bank staff was at ‘Bharat Bandh’ demonstrations. He said, as per CCTV, Mr. Reddy was at the branch to operate his locker at around 4.45 p.m.
“The locker room was closed by other staff members who failed to notice the senior citizen inside,” he said, speaking of the negligence.
The bank official did not comment on the use of locker room register, that monitors entry and exit of its customers, and the adherence to systems and procedures such as opening and closing of certain safe rooms by joint custodians. The issue was being discussed with senior managers to fix the accountability.
According to the Jubilee Hills police, the octogenarian was found lying down inside the locker room. He had also missed his daily medication, and when found, he was in a state of shock and confusion and soon shifted to a private hospital.
Police said the family members were considering to register a case against the bank for its negligence.
