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Sonipat bank robbery: Three held, Haryana Police claim ‘mastermind’ is dead

The police said they began their investigation from the room of the abandoned building that was used to dig the tunnel.

The accused in Sonipat on Thursday.  (Source: Express photo) The accused in Sonipat on Thursday. (Source: Express photo)

It took a pathology lab owner, a property dealer and two farmers — in the 25-30 age group — over two months of planning, 40 days of digging and six hours of breaking open lockers to pull off the Sonipat heist, the Haryana Police said on Thursday.

Nearly three days after the burglary at the Punjab National Bank branch at Gohana in Sonipat district, police arrested three of the alleged robbers and claimed to have recovered 38.91 kg of jewellery and Rs 60,000 from them. Police also said that the mastermind of the robbery is dead. They said he committed suicide.

The police identified the accused as Surender, Balraj, Satish and Rajesh, all residents of Katwal in Gohana — 5 km from the bank. While Surender and Balraj were arrested from the outskirts of Laath village in Gohana on Thursday morning, Satish was picked up in the evening. Rajesh, the only one with a criminal record (in a drug-related case), is at large.

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“Surender runs a pathology lab in Khanpur village, Rajesh works as a property dealer, while Satish and Balraj are farmers,” Sonipat SP Arun Nehra told The Indian Express.

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By evening, news filtered in that Mahipal — the owner of the abandoned building from where the tunnel originated — had been found dead under mysterious circumstances.

“Mahipal was found dead in his car on the Panipat-Gohana highway. A passerby informed the police control room. He committed suicide by consuming some poisonous substance. Mahipal was the mastermind of the case. He gave the idea to these four men, who executed the task. He was also a co-accused in the case on charges of criminal conspiracy,” SP Arun Nehra said.

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The case was cracked by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) team headed by Joint Commissioner (Crime), Gurgaon, Vivek Sharma. The police said they began their investigation from the room of the abandoned building that was used to dig the tunnel.

Police said they traced Mahipal but he initially failed to provide any substantial clue before going missing. Police then scrutinised his call records and identified suspicious numbers and phone-call patterns. “Mahipal had exchanged numerous calls with Rajesh during these days. All the four accused are known for their anti-social activities in and around their village. Intelligence inputs were gathered. Surender and Balraj were picked up. During interrogation, they confessed to their crime,” SP Arun Nehra said.

“The men broke 86 lockers. After decamping with the jewellery and cash, they dumped the loot in an abandoned brick kiln on the outskirts of their village,” said Anil Rao, Inspector General of Police (Rohtak range).

“The involvement of a bank official is also suspected. Six others have been detained in connection with the case and are being questioned. The recovery is being segregated and cross-checked with the claims made by locker owners,” he added.

First uploaded on: 31-10-2014 at 01:35 IST
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