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Patna, July 3: Sitamarhi police have detained five suspects for Tuesday’s incident in which the manager of a nationalised bank was killed and Rs 30 lakh looted from an SUV on the Sitamarhi-Majorganj road.
Investigating officers have zeroed in on a gang led by Santosh Jha and Tuntun Singh. Jha, a former Maoist leader, was active in the area, just 5 km from the porous border with Nepal. In fact, Jha operated from Nepal, an investigating officer said.
After Tuesday’s incident, the state police headquarters directed Sitamarhi superintendent of police P.K. Sinha to cancel his leave.
Sinha, who took charge on Wednesday, said the gang behind the daylight robbery has almost been identified and raids were on to apprehend them.
Acting on a tip off, separate police teams raided different hideouts in Riga and Majorganj police station areas on Wednesday.
The SP said a team from the state forensic laboratory visited the site and collected evidence. They also searched the vehicle in which the victims were travelling. “We hope to crack the case shortly,” Sinha told The Telegraph.
“The modus operandi of the robbers was similar to that by Tuntun Singh Jha’s gang,” an investigating officer said, adding that both gangs were under the surveillance of investigating officials.
SP Sinha said that Ramswarth Ram, the bank branch manager killed in Tuesday’s incident, had not sought any police escort despite a directive asking branch managers to carry cash from one branch to another under police protection. “I fail to understand why the bank officials flouted the directive,” he said.
After Tuesday’s incident, branch managers of all banks in the district have been issued fresh directives not to move around in vehicles without adequate security when carrying huge cash.
“Moving with cash without proper security cover always involves risks,” he said.
The police headquarters has asked SPs to prepare a list of gangs operating in the districts concerned and act accordingly. Such an incident sends a wrong message and also emboldens anti-socials, a missive from the police headquarters said.
Just a matter of time
Motorcycle-borne assailants shot dead Ramswarth Ram (48), manager of Punjab National Bank’s Dumri Kala branch, and looted Rs 30 lakh on the Sitamarhi-Majorganj road on Tuesday
Investigators say the modus operandi of robbers was similar to that by Tuntun Singh Jha’s gang
Jha, a former Maoist leader, was active in the area close to the Nepal border
Five suspects were detained for interrogation, more raids are on