VIJAYAPURA: In a high-profile robbery, criminals stole cash and gold worth Rs 21.04 crore from the SBI branch at Chadchan town in Vijayapura district on Tuesday evening.
As per preliminary assessment by bank officials, robbers have taken away Rs 1.04 crore in cash and around 20 kg of gold ornaments, worth around Rs 20 crore, SP Laxman Nimbargi said on Wednesday. The jewellery was pledged by customers for taking loans, the police said.
The SP said that one of the accused arrived at the bank around 4.30 pm under the pretext of opening a bank account. “He sat in the bank till 6.30 pm. When the bank staff was about to close the branch for the day, he called two of his accomplices. After they arrived, all the three held some ten people at the bank — six staffers and four customers — hostage at gunpoint and lethal weapons. They tied all the hostages and locked them in a room at the bank. They then forced the bank staff to open the lockers and took away cash and jewellery,” Nimbargi said.
The police later recovered a motorcycle used in the crime at Huljanti village of Pandharpur in Maharashtra. Some of the stolen gold and cash kept in the bike was recovered.
The bike had a fake number plate, the SP said.
While fleeing on the bike after the crime, the accused crashed into another motorist. When local residents gathered and started arguing with the criminals, they abandoned the two-wheeler and fled from the spot with the stolen property, the police said.
Meanwhile, the police have formed eight teams to crack the case. Forensic experts visited the bank and collected evidence.
This is the second major bank heist in Vijayapura district in recent months.
In the previous robbery, nearly 50 kg of gold was looted from the Canara Bank branch in Managuli. The branch manager himself was involved and was arrested later. The police successfully cracked that case and recovered the entire loot of stolen gold and arrested all the accused.