Warangal: In a significant breakthrough in one of Telangana’s biggest bank heists, the Warangal police arrested three members of a seven-member gang involved in the robbery at the State Bank of India (SBI) branch in Rayaparthy on November 18. The police recovered 2.52 kg of stolen gold ornaments worth ₹1.84 crore, a car, and ₹10,000 in cash from the arrested individuals. However, the mastermind and other accomplices remain at large.
The daring robbery saw the gang loot 19 kg of gold ornaments valued at ₹13.61 crore from the bank’s strongroom, leaving the police baffled. The crime prompted the deployment of multiple special teams to track and apprehend the robbers.
Arrests and Identifications
The arrested suspects were identified as Ansari Ahmed (34) and Shakir Khan alias Bole Khan (28) from Shahbazpur village in Budan Pur taluka, Uttar Pradesh, and Himanshu Bigam Chand (30) from Motala village in Buldhana district, Maharashtra.
Commissioner of Police Amber Kishor Jha, addressing the media on Friday, commended the efforts of the special teams led by senior officers, including West Zone DCP Rajamahendra Nayak, Wardhannapet ACP Narsaiah, City Crime Station ACP Bhojaraju, and Narsampet ACP Kiran Kumar. These teams scoured multiple states, gathering intelligence and tracking the gang’s movements.
Heist Planning and Execution
The gang’s mastermind, Mohammed Nawab Hasan, conducted a meticulous reconnaissance of the target. Hasan arrived in Telangana days before the robbery and assessed various banks in remote locations using Google Maps. The SBI branch in Rayaparthy was deemed suitable due to its location and security arrangements.
The gang, comprising members from Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, rented a house in Hyderabad to coordinate their activities. On the night of November 18, they traveled to the outskirts of Rayaparthy in a car. At around 11 p.m., they accessed the bank premises through the fields.
Using a gas cutter, they broke a window to enter the bank and disabled the security alarm system and CCTV cameras by cutting their wires. They then forced their way into the strongroom, opening three lockers with the gas cutter. The gang made away with gold ornaments and decamped with the bank’s digital video recorder (DVR) to erase any evidence of their involvement.
Post-Heist Movement
After the robbery, the gang returned to their rented house in Hyderabad to regroup before splitting up and fleeing to Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Ongoing Investigation
Police efforts are now focused on apprehending Mohammed Nawab Hasan and the remaining gang members. The Commissioner emphasized that this operation is ongoing, with multiple teams working tirelessly to recover the remaining stolen gold and bring all perpetrators to justice.
This case highlights the sophistication and planning of organized criminal networks and the challenges faced by law enforcement in cracking such complex cases.
More Bank Robbery Cases
- Robbery Attempt at Union Bank in Jind Haryana
- SBI: Warangal Police solves one of Telangana’s biggest Bank heists, 3 Arrested from UP and Maharashtra
- Robbery Attempt at Yes Bank in Vidisha
- IndusInd Bank Robbery: Thieves Stole Mobile Phones and Tablets from IndusInd Bank in Mataur Mohali
- Fraudsters stole lacs of rupees from SBI ATM using a new method, Understand ATM ‘Timeout Error’
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