Unlike the usual practice of fleeing from the place of crime after committing theft, a robber duo decided to take a chance and visit tourist places in the city, only to be caught by the police.
Mithun Gwala and Manoj Yadav from West Bengal, who stayed back in the city to visit tourist places after snatching a bag containing Rs.5.25 lakh, were nabbed by the Karkhana police on Monday. An amount of Rs.73,000 was recovered from the arrested duo while hunt is on to catch their accomplices Jatin and Amit, North zone DCP R. Jaya Lakshmi said at a press conference. The duo moved around the city visiting different places for nearly 10 days after snatching the cash bag from a bank customer. On a tip-off, a special team of Karkhana police tracked and caught them. The remaining cash was with the other members of the gang, the DCP said.
The gang targeted people coming out of banks after withdrawing cash and was responsible for three more thefts in the past three years at Karkhana and Marredpally. They struck twice in September at Marredpally and Karkhana. Besides these four cases, they admitted to snatching a cash bag in Jaipur, Rajasthan. They committed similar crimes in Assam, Bihar, Nagaland and Rajasthan. Their modus operandi is to check into lodges near railway stations posing as businessmen and hang around banks looking out for people withdrawing cash. In the latest case of snatching cash bag at Karkhana, one of them went inside the bank posing as a customer and identified a person walking out with cash. He alerted his associates waiting outside on a bike . The duo followed the customer, who was riding a two-wheeler, and snatched his bag , Jaya Lakshmi added.
