HYDERABAD: The Cyberabad police on Sunday arrested five persons, including a jeweller from Mumbai, in connection with the recent robbery at Muthoot Finance in RC Puram on the outskirts of the city.
However, out of the 42-kg gold stolen, police could recover only 3.50-kg gold as the rest of it had been converted to rods and transported to different places by the robbers.
Cyberabad police commissioner Sandeep Shandilya said at a press conference at his office here on Sunday that the kingpin of the gang, Laxman alias Bhayya of Mumbai, along with Ganesh Bhonsle alias Patil and Vijay Kumar was held at Holekatte village, when the trio went to collect the car and change its colour to erase the evidences.
“Six persons _ Laxman, Patil, Subhash, Sundar, Kaala alias Lambu of Tamil Nadu and Tukaram Gaikwad of Mumbai _ participated in the robbery. Two persons, Vijay Kumar and Roshan Yadav, did piloting on a bike for the SUV in which the robbers were moving. They relayed information on police movement by travelling 2 km ahead and gave clearance for the SUV to proceed to the destination.” The commissioner said that Subhash Pujari of Kanyakumari, who supplied logistics to the gang, selected the escape route and supplied the mobile phones that were to be used during and after committing the offence.
Meticulous plan
The gang planned the robbery for eight months. They visited Hyderabad several times to identify a potential spot for committing robbery. Patil, who was earlier doing liquor smuggling in Mumbai, is a very skilful driver and drove the SUV to Halakatta in two and a half hours, a distance which generally takes about four hours.
“The accused also erased the engine and chassis numbers, and we do not know whose vehicle exactly it is,” he said.
The police commissioner said that the accused used a car with Maharashtra registration and changed its number plate about half an hour before committing the crime. They stayed on the outskirts of Sangareddy on the night of December 27, and robbed Muthoot Finance on the next day.
Easy target
“The gang selected the RC Puram branch of Muthoot as their target after confirming that it had more women and young employees. They thought that they could frighten the staff easily. From there they travelled via Vikarabad, Parigi, Kodangal, Ribbanplly, Sedam and Chittapur before stopping at Vijay’s house in Halakatta. Later, they went to Nasik for having the gold melted and then dispersed,” the commissioner said.
The gang was being financed by Kumar Pal Trilokchand Shah, a jeweller in Mumbai. He buys stolen gold at half the market price. He purchased 12 kg of gold stolen from Gulbarga and 5 kg of gold stolen from RC Puram.
The police team nabbed Shah when he was handing over `5 lakh in cash to Subhash in Mumbai. Subhash went to Madurai and went back to Mumbai to collect gold. He called up Shah three times to confirm that he would collect the gold in Mumbai.
“Only 3.50-kg of gold ornaments were recovered from Shah while the rest of the 37-kilo gold ornaments was converted into gold rods at Patil’s house in Nasik. From there the gold disappeared. We will take the accused into custody to find about the gold,” he said, adding that Tukaram, Roshan, Pulari, Yuvaraj and Sunder were still at large.