Kozhikode: The police team probing the gold fraud at Vatakara have so far recovered 15.85 kilograms of stolen gold. A team led by the Crime Branch Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) V V Benny recently recovered 8.8 kilograms of gold from five branches of two banks in Tirupur.

The bank had lost 26.244 kilograms of gold worth Rs 17.2 crore from its locker. The main accused, Madha Jayakumar, the former bank manager at the Vatakara branch of the bank who swapped the pawned gold with a fake one, is under judicial custody now. His accomplice Karthik is at large. It was with the help of Karthik that Madha Jayakumar pledged the stolen gold in different banks in Tirupur. They got in touch with a private agency that pooled 30 account holders to pledge the gold to five banks. Neither the borrowers nor the staff at the private agency were aware that it was stolen gold.

They were told that the gold was from a businessman. The agency's staff easily achieved their monthly target by pledging this gold, said the police. Prior to the recovery procedures, the police officials contacted each of the borrowers in all five branches and informed them about the fraud. The seized gold will be presented before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Vatakara, on Monday, said Kozhikode Rural Superintendent of Police Nithin Raj.