HYDERABAD: Lulya Pandey, the weapons supplier for the inter-State dacoity gang that robbed the Muthoot Fincorp branch at Hosur in Tamil Nadu on Friday, not only supported the gang by providing them with weapons, but also funded them. Currently absconding, Pandey started funding their activities for the heist after they purchased seven weapons from him for Rs 35,000 each.
The gang, from the time they entered Bengaluru three months ago till the day of the heist, had spent around Rs 10 lakh and it was all financed by Pandey. This is the reason the police believe that the gang members were to decide their further course of action after meeting him at Nagpur, but they were nabbed midway.
After the gang’s failed attempt to rob the Muthoot brance in Ludhiana in October 2020 — where they fired 32 rounds of bullets with three weapons, resulting in the death of a civilian — they analysed their failure and decided that the weapons were not sufficient for such a large-scale heist. They approached Pandey, who had been a longtime friend of accused Amith alias Vivek Shukla, and procured more weapons. They also took three long months to plan for the heist at Hosur, as opposed to the one week of prep they did for the one in Ludhiana.
Kingpin Rup Singh Baghal and Amith travelled to Bengaluru and rented a room in Electronic City immediately after the failed attempt at Ludhiana. For three months, they recced different Muthoot Fincorp branches in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and finally narrowed down on the Hosur branch. The cost of the bikes, their room rent and other expenses were all taken care of by Pandey.
One of the weapons was made in ordnance factory
Out of the seven weapons that were seized from the gang members on Saturday, police found that one weapon was made in one of the ordnance factories in the country, indicating it to be a licensed weapon that was either snatched from its owner or misplaced by the owner himself.
The weapon was a .32 calibre pistol and was manufactured in the year 2010. The other six weapons were country-made and in good condition at the time of the arrest. Usually, weapons made in ordnance factories are supplied to the security forces. Police suspect that Pandey, who supplied weapons to the gang, snatched it from its owner. They are now verifying the weapon’s origin using it’s serial number.
10 L spent on heist planning
The inter-State gang, from the time they entered Bengaluru three months ago till the day of the heist, had spent around Rs 10 lakh and it was all financed by Pandey.
Pretended to be students
At Bengaluru, the gang members pretended to be students who came to the city for higher studies and purchased three bikes for a total of Rs 2 lakh.