Locker Disaster: A Bank Locker Ended Up in Someone Else’s Name!

On one Sunday morning, Mr. Ashish Dutta thought that he would check all his documents. He opened his small cupboard and took out all bank passbooks, fixed deposit receipts, life insurance policies, etc. and scattered them all on the ground. Then he arranged them separately, one on top of the other, in an orderly manner.

Mrs. Dutta peeked through the door to see what Mr. Dutta was busy doing. Seeing his condition, she said — “Oh, you are so busy, then you’ll be late for lunch… I think it will be two o’clock. So let me go and have a little chat with Boudi next door.”

“Go, go, what else do you two do? Just gossiping and giggling.”
“Do you want to stop our laughter now?” Mrs. Dutta went out.

While rummaging through the old passbook, his eyes fell on the old passbook of his daughter, Nandini. It was his joint account with Nandini, basically for her use. The passbook wasn’t updated for long. After Nandini got married, she did not use that account anymore. He thought that he would go to the bank and get it updated on Monday. And when she didn’t need it, he would better apply to the bank to close the account. Retired people are very happy to get a job.

On Monday morning, after breakfast, Mr. Dutta went to the bank to get his daughter’s passbook updated and apply to close the account. The teller updated the passbook and sent him to the Savings Accounts Officer, Mr. Das, to close the account.

Mr. Das reviewed the account and said that locker rent was deducted from it every year, so the account couldn’t be closed without surrendering the locker. It was a shocking and confusing experience for Mr. Dutta. How could this happen?

Mr. Dutta got nervous and said, thinking he might have checked the wrong account, “Look, we don’t have any lockers in this bank. One was that we surrendered and closed about four years ago before my daughter’s wedding. The key was deposited in the bank. We don’t need a locker.”

Mr. Das said, “Locker number 508 is in your name. Bring the locker key before you go. Please empty the locker, then the account can be closed.”

Returning home perplexed, Mr. Dutta searched the entire house but could not find the locker key anywhere. He asked his wife too. Mrs. Dutta said, “We gave back the bank locker key four years ago; that was right before Nandini’s marriage. I was making jewellery for Nandini’s wedding, so I took a locker to store it. We emptied it before the wedding, and it was not needed. The two pieces of jewellery that I have have been kept in the locker in the house. I don’t understand why the bank is saying that.”

Nandini was called that night. She said, “I don’t have any keys. What was in the locker was emptied four years ago. If there is some money in the account, send it to me, please, Baba.”

On the following day, Mr. Dutta returned to the bank and told Mr. Das there was no key in the house, and everyone at home agreed that it had been returned to the bank four years earlier.

Mr. Das took a good look at the computer again and said, “This locker number 508 of yours has been operated on three times in the last two years, and every year the rent is also deducted from your account. Please go and bring your wife and daughter to open the locker, check, and surrender the keys before you can close the account.”

Fast forward a few days, and Mr. Dutta reached the bank with his wife. Mrs. Dutta said, “Our locker was in this bank. But four years ago, before my daughter’s marriage, we emptied the locker. Then there was no need, and we did not come. Even the passbook has not been updated. As far as I remember, we emptied the lockers and gave the keys to the bank.”

Mr. Das said, “But perhaps your daughter has come. Call her; it will be confirmed.”

Mrs. Dutta said, “Nandini does not live here. She stays far away from here. And she does not have the time to come here. We only go to see our girl sometimes. She can’t come here.”

Mr. Das said, “We must break the lock of the locker then. The company would be notified. Their people will come and break the lock. You will be informed at that time. The lock will be broken in your presence. The cost will be deducted from your account.”

Mr. Dutta said, “What else can be done when we are helpless? Please make arrangements to break the lock of the locker.”

A fortnight later, Mr. Dutta received notification that the locker company would be arriving at the bank to break the locker’s lock. A mix of relief and anticipation filled his mind as he rushed with his wife over to the bank. They broke the lock in their presence. From inside the bag, the Assistant Manager pulled out three potli bags. A bewildered Dutta couple looked on. Potli bags are small drawstring pouches that have been used in India for centuries to carry small items such as coins, jewellery, etc.

Mrs. Dutta quickly opened the potli bags. She was shocked and shouted, “These things are not ours.” The locker officer’s face turned pale. Chief Manager Mr. Mukherjee came rushing, hearing the screams. A few other staff members also arrived curiously after hearing the scream. Mr. Mukherjee took Mrs. and Mr. Dutta to his office. He offered them water and ordered tea immediately. He took custody of three potli bags and kept them inside the cash vault under the dual custody of the Head Cashier and the Operations Manager.

Mr. Mukherjee assured Mrs. and Mr. Dutta that they were working diligently to resolve the issue. He apologized profusely for the mix-up and promised to keep them updated on their progress as they sat in his office.

As it turns out, locker No. 508 somehow ended up under Dutta’s name! How does something like that even happen? It’s not like the locker decided to go on an identity crisis spree overnight. But alas, here they were, facing this unexpected conundrum.

There were items worth about 15-20 lakh rupees (US$18–24 thousand) in the potli bags. But the Dutta couple refused to admit that the items were theirs. Who was the owner of this much property, then?

Bewildered and shocked, the officer in charge of the locker fell to his knees. Staff members could already sense something was amiss. The bank staff seemed a bit flustered and whispered among themselves, casting furtive glances towards the Chief Manager’s office. Some said that the locker Incharge would be suspended immediately, and some said it might be a police case… More comments and remarks were being made by staff members and a few customers, who also joined in with curiosity.

Mr. Mukherjee ordered the office to retrieve the original documents as soon as possible. He said, “I want the original document of 4 years ago, I need to verify the truth.  No one will leave the office today until the documents are retrieved, checked with computer records, and the issue is resolved. Bring the documents, A-S-A-P.”

All the peons got busy in the record room. Because everything was done on a digital system for more than three years, finding older records was a little challenging. The document was located and recovered at about 6:30 p.m. The original document said that Mr. Dutta was correct. Four years ago, they turned in the locker. In addition, he put the key in the bank.

According to the locker register, a customer by the name of Mr. Ramashish Sen had already been assigned locker number 508. However, during the process of digitizing the documents, Mr. Dutta’s name and account number were entered incorrectly. Consequently, each year, locker rent was taken out of Mr. Dutta’s account rather than Mr. Sen’s.

Without delay, Mr. Mukherjee instructed an Assistant Manager to contact Mr. Sen. Everybody in the bank was anticipating Mr. Sen’s answer. The whole family hurried to the branch and began yelling at the bank right away as Mr. Sen received the news. The bank personnel appeared equally perplexed as Mr. Sen was, so he demanded explanations. The son of Mr. Sen made a threat to call the police.

As Mr. Dutta was witnessing everything, he fainted in his chair. That was an additional, unanticipated crisis! Mr. Mukherjee promptly directed one of his officers to take the Dutta couple to a neighbouring nursing facility in his official car.

After numerous apologies and assurances that Mr. Mukherjee would conduct a thorough investigation, Mr. Sen gradually calmed down. Perhaps upon witnessing Mr. Dutta’s state, he felt a tinge of sympathy. That was not how anyone anticipated the scenario to unfold. He began to worry about Mr. Dutta’s health as well.

In the end, the Sen family decided to verify the potli bags in front of Mr. Mukherjee and the Operations Manager to make sure everything was alright. The trio of potli bags was brought by the head cashier. Mrs. Sen acknowledged right away that these bags belonged to them, but she wanted to see what was inside.

After what seemed like an endless wait, the moment of truth finally arrived.  After a thorough inspection, they concluded that nothing was missing and everything was in order. Mr. Mukherjee heaved a sigh of relief. The officer in charge of the locker stood before them, apologizing. He looked close to tears.

It was ten o’clock then. Since the lock on locker No. 508 was broken, items were stored in a new locker. The computer’s records were updated. The locker rent entries were charged to Mr. Sen’s account and reversed from Mr. Dutta’s account. Mr. Sen was given the new locker key. With relief and happiness, they exchanged greetings and went back to their homes. 

The branch was situated close to a Kali temple. The following day, the Operations Manager performed a pooja there. Prasad was distributed in the branch.

Meanwhile, in the middle of the night, Mr. Dutta regained consciousness. The stress and strain caused his blood pressure and blood sugar to drop below normal, and he passed out. Up until the following morning, he was under monitoring in the nursing home. Mr. Mukherjee visited him before heading to the branch the following morning and offered to cover the cost of his care in the nursing home; Mrs. Dutta graciously declined. The following day, Mr. Sen expressed his pleasure and appreciation to Mr. Dutta by sending him a box of chocolates and a bouquet of flowers.

It simply goes to show that amazing adventures may happen even in the most mundane circumstances. Who knew that Mr. Dutta’s ordinary trip to the bank would become both a drama filled with tense moments and a comedy of errors?

And Shakespeare said, all’s well that ends well!