PURI : More than four months after robbery in Andhra Bank here, Puri police claim to have solved case with the arrest of eight members of a gang.
Informing about the arrests SP Sarthak Sarangi said on Wednesday, a special police team comprising senior officers was formed to nab the accused. The team recovered more than ` 6 lakh cash, gold ornaments, nine mobile phones and arrested all those involved.
Police tracked the mobile phone numbers of the all those present in the bank at the time of robbery and found one to be that of a criminal. A special squad nabbed main accused SK Azam (23) of Palasahi village under Baliapatana police limits and recovered over ` 2 lakh. His arrest led police to other accused.
They are Riaz Khan of Dangohiri village underthe Pipili police limits, Sukanta Bhoi of Rench Nimapara, Saubhagya Jena of Harishpur under Nimapara police limits, Ranjit Kumar Raj of Palasahi, Balipatana Jaina Behera of Nadhiali Sahi under Pipili police limits, Jagamohan Das of Rench under Pipili police limits and Susanata Kumar Das of Panichhatra under Kakatpur police limts.
On March 31, six bike-borne miscreants barged Kaushalya Ganga branch of Andhra Bank, overpowered the security guard at gun-point, snapped bank alarm cable, destroyed the CCTV camera and escaped with over `17 lakh cash along with the CCTV hard disc, The accused were forwarded to Nimapara Judicial Magistrate First Class Court, which remanded them in Jail custody. Police is likely to take them on remand.
The main accused was nabbed on an earlier occasion in a robbery case in Nimapara but was granted anticipatory bail by the High Court, the SP added.
Police is hopeful about cracking past robberies during the interrogation of Azam.