ALLAHABAD: Everything that glitters is not gold. The adage could be aptly applied to the guards and officials of the main branch of SBI Bhadohi who were guarding ‘gold’ worth over Rs 1 crore kept in their vault for the past several years oblivion of the fact that it was artificial.

The gold, kept in form of jewellery, coins and gold bars, was pledged to the bank against various loans amounting to over Rs 1 crore. The loans were given in 2012 under the agri-gold loan scheme. After the borrowers failed to deposit the monthly installments, the bank issued notices. But when an amount of Rs 88.32 lakh constantly remained outstanding, authorities grew suspicious and tested the gold which was found to be artificial.

The bank manager has lodged an FIR against 27 people in Kotwali, including the field officer and firm which tested the gold in this connection.

The ‘scam’ came to light after borrowers failed to deposit monthly installments and the outstanding shot up to Rs 88.32 lakh, said bank manager Shiv Shankar Upadhyaya. “We have lodged an FIR. An internal probe too is underway,” he added.

Bhadohi Kotwali in-charge Ramesh Chaubey said, “Persons against whom a complaint has been lodged include bank’s field officer Arvind Kumar, owner of Sri Krishna Gold Bar Testing Lab, Varanasi, and 25 others who took loans under sections 419, 420, 406, 409, 467, 468 and 471 of the IPC (Indian Penal Code).” He added a probe was underway and the case would be transferred to crime branch.

In 2012, SBI’s main branch distributed loan of over Rs 1 crore to around 25 people under Agri-gold loan scheme. The borrowers, all hailing from Bhadohi, pledged around 4kg gold in form of jewellery, coins, etc., to the bank along with Varanasi goldsmith’s certificate regarding the purity of the gold.

In due course of time, many of these borrowers stopped depositing monthly installment. By 2013, the then bank manager was transferred. The bank started issuing notices to defaulters after a new manager took over. Lack of response to notices or reminders aroused new manager’s suspicion and he decided to ascertain the quality of gold pledged for loan in 2012. He was shocked to find that the gold was fake.