Surat, Dec 27 (PTI) Eight members of an interstate gang were arrested for allegedly stealing cash and jewellery cumulatively valued at Rs 1.05 crore from a bank in Surat in Gujarat, a police official said on Friday.
They were arrested from Surat, Delhi, Punjab and Bihar, while mastermind Suraj Luhar, hailing from West Bengal, is on the run, he added.
“Cash and valuables worth Rs 53.58 lakh have been recovered from Dipak Mahto, Yash Mahatma, Barkhukumar Bind, Suraj Singh, Jayprakash Bind, Kundankumar Bind, Khiru Bind and Badal Mahato. On the night of December 16, some unidentified persons entered the Union Bank of India (UBI) branch in Palod in Mangrol taluka by making a hole in a wall separating the bank and a private office,” a release said.
The thieves managed to break six lockers and steal cash and jewellery worth Rs 1.05 crore, including 1.47 kilograms of gold and 4 kilograms of silver ornaments, the Surat police release said.
“After scanning nearly 500 CCTV clips, we found that Dipak Mahato and Yash Mahatma, both residents of Sayan village here, helped Luhar in conducting recce of the area. They helped carry out the crime by deploying their pick up truck. Their questioning led to Khiru and Kundankumar being nabbed from a Naxal-affected area in Bihar’s Munger district. Badalkumar Mahato was nabbed from Bhagalpur in Bihar while Jayprakash was held from Punjab,” the release said.
“Suraj Singh and Barkhukumar were arrested from Delhi. Mahato and Luhar belong to the same village and know each other well. Mahato, a labour contractor in Sayan, called Luhar to work in local business units in Surat. Luhar carried out a recce of the bank for 20 days in August,” the release said.
While Luhar called associates to Palod, Mahato arranged for a concrete breaker, electric grinder and other tools to break the wall to carry out the robbery, police said.
Luhar, Suraj Singh, Jayprakash Bind, Kundankumar Bind, Khiru Bind and Badal Mahato entered the bank after creating a hole in the wall and cut open the lockers using an electric grinder, the release said.
“They reached Vadodara railway station in the morning and then went to Delhi where they divided the bounty at Barkhukumar’s godown. They then left for different places. They gave a gold chain to Barkhukumar as a reward for allowing use of his godown,” it said. PTI COR PJT BNM
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