MP bank robbery: Armed robbers still untraced, police confident of cracking case soon

Jabalpur, Aug 13 (IANS) Three days have passed since a daylight bank robbery that has shaken Jabalpur, the cultural capital of Madhya Pradesh, when a gang of armed men looted gold and cash worth more than Rs 10 crore, the district police was yet to crackdown the case.

Around 50 people, including bank employees, suspects and miscreants involved in various theft incidents in the local areas have been questioned in the past three days, however, police is yet to find any conclusive lead to trace the robbers.

This broad daylight bank robbery has brought Jabalpur district police on its toes.

Nearly one dozen of teams from several police stations in the district, including Sihora, where the incident occurred, have been deployed and searches were being carried out extensively.

Jabalpur Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP), Suryakant Sharma, while talking to IANS on Wednesday evening, said that police have received some inputs and extensive searches are being carried, and the accused persons would be arrested as soon as possible.

"We have received some key inputs and investigation is still underway, but we can't say that we have reached to any conclusion until the accused persons are arrested. Yes, at this stage, I can say that Jabalpur police is very determined to crackdown this case," ASP Sharma added.

Responding on whether the police have got any conclusive evidences that could lead to their identification, the police officer said that the robbers had bore helmets and mask to hide their faces.

"More than 100 CCTV cameras installed at various locations in the city, including petrol pumps and private homes were scanned, but they could not be identified," he added.

ASP Sharma also denied the possibility of the involvement of people from outside Madhya Pradesh.

When asked about any possible involvement of a bank employee, he said, "It can't be denied. We are investigating from various angles."

"On the basis of inputs received so far, we can say that there no involvement of outsiders in this case. One of whom had a firearm tucked under his belt, has been identified, and there are a lot more things which can't be disclosed until the case is solved," he added.

Five to six armed men, covering their faces with helmet and masks entered into a ESAF Small Finance Bank in Khitola area in Sehora tehsil of Jabalpur district on morning of August 11 and fled with 14 grams of gold jewellery and Rs 5.7 lakh in cash, of total worth more than Rs 10 crore.

The early morning robbery which was caught on the CCTV cameras, happened at the bank, which didn't have a security guard.

Five to six staffers were present in the bank at the time of the robbery committed by the five men, who came on motorcycles.

Surprisingly, the incident was told to the local police by the bank staffers, around 45 minutes after the robbery.

The concerned bank gave loans against mortgaged gold.

The bank usually starts operations daily at 10:30 a.m., but due to the festive season it is currently opening daily between 8 and 9 a.m.

--IANS

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