Madhu Jayakumar, the bank manager who was accused of escaping with gold ornaments worth ₹17 crore from the Bank of Maharashtra’s Edodi branch near Vadakara in the Kozhikode district, was nabbed from Telangana on Sunday (August 18, 2024) night.
A special squad of the Kozhikode District Crime Branch would soon secure his custody for further investigation into the incident. The 36-year-old Tamil Nadu native was detained by a local police squad from Telangana.
It was on August 16 that the multi-crore fraud came to light following the bank’s reappraisal process. The suspect was reportedly fleeing with about 26 kg of gold ornaments pawned by various individuals. The man reportedly secured the gold after replacing it with fake ornaments.
In the preliminary investigation, it was confirmed that the trickery took place between June 2021 and July 2024. About 40 gold loan accounts were targeted by the 34-year-old Tamil Nadu native.
Police sources said he zeroed in on loan accounts opened by some affluent borrowers. They said efforts were on to interrogate some of his close friends who were suspected of having direct involvement in the incident.
The case had been handed over to a District Crime squad led by Deputy Superintendent of Police (Crime Branch) G. Balachandran. It was formed soon after the suspect released a short video explaining the alleged role of one of his senior officers in the fraud.
Police sources said the support of local crime investigation squads in Tamil Nadu and Telangana had been sought to track the man who was found absconding after his recent transfer from Edodi branch to Kochi. They said the cyber cell officers had also extended their technical support to track the escapee.
