AHMEDABAD: Gujarat Police have cracked arrested three accused in the Rs 2.49 crore robbery at the residence of Jitendrasinh Jadeja, a member of the erstwhile royal family of Shapar in Rajkot district, using drone surveillance, mobile tower dump analysis, CCTV footage and technical intelligence.
The three accused were identified as Bansingh alias Banna Hemraj Singad, Dinesh Setan Parmar and Setan Diwan. All the three accused are from Madhya Pradesh. They have been arrested and property worth Rs 76.86 lakh has been recovered. Police are searching for five absconding accused, including the alleged mastermind.
According to the police, the robbery took place on the wee hours of June 20. Police said the accused allegedly held Jadeja hostage before fleeing with Rs 2.47 crore in cash, gold ornaments worth about Rs 2 lakh and a licensed 12-bore rifle.
Rajkot Range IG Nirlipta Rai said the investigation was challenging as there was no clear CCTV footage and the accused dispersed soon after the crime.
"The accused divided the looted property immediately after the crime and escaped using three stolen motorcycles. Through technical investigation, drone surveillance, CCTV analysis and mobile tower dump data, our teams reconstructed their movements and successfully identified the suspects," Rai said.
Nearly 20 police teams were formed to investigate the case. Police analysed CCTV footage, examined mobile tower dump records, tracked habitual offenders and sent teams to Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar to trace the suspects.
A breakthrough came after police recovered the three stolen motorcycles using drone surveillance and matched a mobile number identified through tower dump analysis. This led to the arrest of the three accused.
Police recovered Rs 43.18 lakh in cash, jewellery worth Rs 21.22 lakh, the licensed rifle, weapons used in the crime, a Bolero vehicle and other material, taking the total recovery to Rs 76.86 lakh.
Investigators said the accused were familiar with the Shapar-Veraval area as some of their relatives had lived or worked there. Police suspect they targeted Jadeja after learning that he lived alone and allegedly kept a large amount of cash at his residence. They are trying to identify the person who allegedly provided the information.
Police said Bansingh has two previous robbery-related cases against him, Setan Diwan has seven prohibition cases, and Dinesh Setan Parmar faces two prohibition cases.
Police are searching for Kalamsingh alias Kamalsingh Singad, Karansingh alias Madiya Singad, Mohabat, Sulsula Bamania and Vision Mavi, all from Madhya Pradesh. Investigators said Kalamsingh is believed to be the mastermind and his arrest could help identify the informer and reveal the full conspiracy.
Police said further arrests are expected as the investigation continues.