Kasargod: Enraged customers on Monday laid siege to Kudlu Service Cooperative Bank at Eriyal in Kasargod demanding the return of their 25 kg gold looted in 2001 and 2015. Some 150 people locked the gate in the morning preventing the staff entering the building. The siege and heated exchange of words continued for a few hours. Later police intervened and assured a decision in two days. On September 7, 2015, a seven-member gang looted the bank in daylight at knifepoint, taking 17.680 kg of gold and Rs 13 lakh in cash away.
The Kasaragod police arrested the culprits on various occasions, and charge-sheeted. The gold some 880 customers mortgaged and kept in the locker was gone. In 2001, a six-member gang looted the same bank and fled with seven kilograms of gold. The culprits are behind bars now, but 153 customers lost their gold. In both the cases, police had recovered most of the gold and cash. The bank ignored their ultimatum to give back the gold on October 30 forcing them to resort to the siege.
“The bank is cheating us. Though we reached here on October 30, the bank secretary got retired on the day,” lamented Mohanan M., who lost six sovereigns of gold. But the bank officials say the insurance company has not allowed the coverage to the looted items, and the legal process is going on. Kasargod circle-inspector Abdul Rahim C.A. said the bank had agreed to decide in two days.
