In a revelation that puts a question mark on the safety of bank deposits and security of bank employees, the government on Friday cited a report by the Reserve Bank of India to admit that crimes at banks premises are on the rise.
"The RBI has reported that there has been some rise in various crimes, including murders, at bank premises during the last three years," minister of state for finance Namo Narain Meena told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.
Total number of crimes, including robbery, dacoity, theft and burglary, at various banks rose by 6.6 per cent to 595 incidents in 2009 from 558 in 2008, said Meena, adding during 2008, it had risen 10 per cent from 507 incidents in 2007, showing a continuous rising trend.
Among the states, Punjab leads the chart with the highest number of crimes with 60 incidents in 2009, followed by Uttar Pradesh with 54 and Andhra Pradesh with 50 incidents, said Meena.
However, Uttar Pradesh leads in the amount of money decamped in such crimes in 2009 at Rs 292.29 lakh (Rs 2.92 billion), followed by Rs 272.21 lakh (Rs 2.72 billion) in West Bengal, and Rs 253.73 lakh (Rs 2.53 billion) in Orissa.
Though the number of crimes has been on the rise at the national level too, the amount of money lost came down to Rs 2,052 lakh (Rs 20.52 billion) in 2009, down by about 13 per cent from Rs 2,356 lakh (Rs 23.56 billion) in 2008.
However, in the preceding year it rose 51 per cent to Rs 2,356 lakh (Rs 23.56 billion) in 2008 from Rs 1,560 lakh (Rs 15.6 billion) in 2007, the informed the Lower House.
