A day after armed robbers looted the office of India Infoline Finance Limited in Cuttack, Odisha, the company on Friday informed the police that about 39.5 kg of gold, worth around ₹20 crore, was found missing.
However, the Cuttack police said the claim could not be ascertained as the finance company had not handed over the ledger to them. The police found 5 kg of gold left in the company’s Nayasadak branch after assessing the loss of assets.
“After primary investigation, it was found that the finance company was not serious in ensuring requisite security deployment. The only security guard, who was outsourced, was not on duty for past 15 days as he had gone to see his father suffering from COVID-19,” said Sudhansu Sarangi, Commissioner of Police for Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.
“The CCTV cameras were not working and the control room at the Mumbai headquarters which was supposed to receive live feed did not point out the laxity on the part of the branch,” he said.
“The IIFL has a lot to answer about the weak lock system kept for safeguarding the gold. The automatic alarm system did not go off,” the police officer said.
