Similarities between two bank thefts help police zero in on inter-State gang

Hyderabad: The striking similarities in the thefts at Grameena Vikas Bank (GVB) in Siddipet and Telangana Grameena Bank (TGB) in Bussapur village in Nizamabad within 24 hours helped the police zero-in on an inter-State gang familiar in committing banks thefts meticulously.

With the thieves taking all the precautionary measures to prevent the police from collecting clues from TGB, a police team from Nizamabad came to GVB and examined the premises only to find a small clue based on which the police department formed four special teams to nab the inter-State gang.

Thieves first struck at GVB on July 1 and escaped with Rs.83,017 and the next day, they committed the same offence at TGB and made away with 8.3 kg gold. Using two gas cylinders, they cut open the steel vaults and took away the gold.

The gang had carefully damaged the single CCTV camera on the bank entrance. Police could only see a masked man reaching out to the camera and breaking it later. A police official said the gang committed the offences only after examining the premises thoroughly.

The gang members came from the rear and took the stairs from the BSNL office and entered TGB. “The gang did not leave any clue at TGB but through a small clue collected at GVB, we found the involvement of an inter-State gang that is notorious for committing bank thefts,” the official said.

The investigators also examined footage collected from the commercial establishments on the highway from Siddipet to Bussapur covering more than 100 km to get more clues about the gang. “We are hopeful of arresting the gang members in a week,” the police said.

The police also found that the gang members purchased the mask at a shop in Masaipet in Medak district. “We found the location of the shop with the help of the mask cover abandoned at TGB,” he said.