The Hindu : 4 held for Chennai SBI murder, robbery bid

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 24, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu-Chennai

4 held for Chennai SBI murder, robbery bid

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI DEC. 23. Eight months after the murder-cum-burglary bid at the Besant Nagar branch of the State Bank here, the city police today arrested four key culprits.

Following a tip-off, Manivannan also known as Robert (38) of East Tambaram was nabbed on Sunday along with his associates — Ravi of Wimco Nagar, Velu Prabakaran of East Tambaram and Vajravelu of Shenoy Nagar, the Greater Chennai Police Commissioner, K. Vijay Kumar, said.

During interrogation, Manivannan confessed that he and eight others had committed the offence. Recently, the police arrested Rajaram, a militant having links with Tamil chauvinistic groups. His interrogation led to identification of the gangsters involved in the bank crime.

Two days before executing the crime, Robert and his associates had met Rajaram on the Tambaram railway playground to chalk out a robbery plan. From Tambaram they rode four two-wheelers and on Medavakkam Road, replaced the number plates with fake ones. The gang arrived on the 16th Cross Road at around 7-30 a.m. and observed the bank from a distance to execute their plan.

Soon after entering the bank under the pretext of getting a demand draft, they tied up and immobilised the watchman and other staff.

The gang leader, Manivannan, then strapped a pipe bomb around the neck of the bank officer, Mohan, poured kerosene on him and snatched the safe vault key. The victim, Viswanathan, a cash officer, who entered the bank at the juncture, resisted the gangsters' attempts to remove the keys from him. Manivannan stabbed him and took away the keys. However, when the gangsters opened the vault, the burglar alarm went off, forcing them to flee. On the existing bank security system, after the incident, Mr. Vijay Kumar said already security guards of some nationalised banks had been imparted training on handling firearms at Marudham and Perumbakkam. The police would hold meetings with top bank officials to improve the security system.

S. Srinivasan, regional manager, said after the Besant Nagar incident most of the banks were provided with additional security staff.

An auto-dialler facility was installed at all branches and in an emergency, the phone will automatically dial five numbers, including that of the nearest police station.

Plans were also afoot to instal closed-circuit television sets in the branches.

The Commissioner presented rewards to the members of the special party who nabbed the culprits in the Besant Nagar case.

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