Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh), Nov 9 (IANS): A retired government official has alleged that jewellery worth over Rs 35 lakh has gone missing from the bank locker in Gorakhpur.

He has lodged an FIR in the matter at the Cantt. police station while the bank has also ordered a probe into the matter.

Naval Kant Tiwari, former deputy director, information, told reporters, "When I was posted in Gorakhpur, I took a joint locker with my wife Snehlata at the Punjab National Bank main branch in the city. My wife's jewellery worth around Rs 35 lakh was kept in it."

He said that he had last opened the locker on June 2, 2011 and was, thereafter, transferred from Gorakhpur.

"Since there is a wedding in the family, we went to open the locker. The bank asked us to complete the KYC formalities and deposit Rs 25,000 cash besides a fixed deposit of Rs 25,000 for payment of the locker rent. After doing the formalities, when we opened the locker on Thursday afternoon, the locker was empty and jewellery was missing," he said.

The bank manager, Kumar Amitabh, said, "They came after 2011 and had even forgotten their locker number. Our record shows the locker was surrendered in 2014. No bank employee keeps any information about the things kept in a locker, however, a letter has been written to the head office and a probe has been initiated regarding surrender of the locker."