Police on Wednesday claimed to have solved the loot of Rs 60 lakh of a public sector bank, in which two guards and a driver were murdered at Bagha Tila village under jurisdiction of Belchhi police station in Patna rural on March 6.
Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manu Maharaaj said four suspects were arrested and Rs 45 lakh was recovered during a raid at Anand Golwa village under the jurisdiction of Mohiuddin Nagar police station in Samastipur. Three country-made weapons were also seized.
However, one of the criminals managed to escape from the custody of a team of the Mohiuddin Nagar police station. Maharaaj said Mohiuddin Nagar police station house officer Asgar Imam has been put under suspension.
The police got a lead after the arrest of Mukesh Kumar from Barah village under the Belchhi police station limit. During interrogation, Mukesh revealed the names of his associates - Lallan Singh, Manish Kumar and Rajesh Kumar - all residents of Anand Golwa village across the Ganga in Samastipur.
On Wednesday, a team led by the SSP conducted raids and took Lallan and his two brothers, Manish and Rajesh alias Babua, into custody. While the personnel of the Patna police team were busy in interrogation and the seizure of the money, Rajesh gave the police the slip. Rajesh, the SSP said, had criminal antecedents.
Shiv Shankar Singh, the father of Manish and Lallan, was also arrested on the charge of abetment of crime. "Singh not only harboured the bank robbers but also failed to pass on the information to the police about the money. The booty was hidden in a box underneath an under-construction building belonging to the family," the SSP said.
The alleged kingpin of the gang identified as Pintu Singh, a resident of Sultanpur Gatahatol village in Samastipur, is still at large. Maharaaj said the entire family was involved in unlawful activities.
During interrogation, Manish said he had handed over Rs 10 lakh to Mukesh immediately after the loot from the SUV hired by the Bihar Risk Consultancy, which provided services to the bank for transportation of cash. A sum of Rs 5 lakh was spent on the family.
Manish, an ITI dropout, said out of Rs 5 lakh, he spent Rs 1.10 lakh on repayment of loan to the bank at Mohiuddin Nagar from where he had earlier taken loan for a carrier van. The remaining Rs Rs 3.90 lakh was spent on purchasing building construction material for the under-construction house at his native village Anand Golwa, around 80km north of Patna. The rest (Rs 45 lakh) was seized by the police.
According to sources, the entire plan was chalked out by Mukesh with the help of Pintu. Both Lallan and Manish claimed that Pintu had fired on the two security guards, Yogeshwar Das (50) and Suresh Kumar (55), when they offered resistance. SUV driver Anand Kumar (34), was also shot.
The police claimed that the robbers had used 9mm pistols, reportedly looted from a police officer earlier. The weapon used has not yet been recovered. The police didn't rule out the involvement of bank employees in the incident.
"The two brothers arrested in the cash loot told the interrogators that a bank manager of the Punjab National Bank was in touch with Mukesh. Mukesh had taken Rs 10 lakh from them (the two brothers) on the pretext that the money would be given to the manager of the bank as his share," the SSP said. Maharaaj, however, clarified that the action against the bank official would be taken on the basis of evidence and not merely on the statement of the arrested criminals.
Maharaaj said technical surveillance (cellphone locations) on the activities of the suspects led to arrests. The special investigation team constituted to crack the case consisted of cops adept in technical know-how.
The SSP said the same gang was involved in snatching the service revolver of an assistant sub-inspector of police posted at Bind police station in Nalanda on March 16 last year. In addition, the gang had looted licensed pistols (9mm) after killing two other police officials at Fatuha and Barh in Patna district in 2016.
Manish and Lallan confessed to their involvement in the loot of Rs 40 lakh belonging to Punjab National Bank at Sohsarai in Nalanda after killing two persons on February 27 this year. In addition, two cases were lodged against them at Mohiuddin Nagar police station in Samastipur.
