The Chennai city police on Wednesday released video footage of a man suspected to be the kingpin behind the bank robberies at Indian Overseas Bank at Keelkattalai on Monday and Bank of Baroda at Perungudi on January 23.
A reward of Rs. 1 lakh has been announced for anyone who can provide information leading to his arrest.
Recce before robbery
The footage obtained from CCTV cameras in a nationalised bank near the Bank of Baroda branch in Perungudi, showing the suspect combing a bank with a pencil in hand as part of a recce for an armed robbery, was screened for mediapersons by Commissioner of Police J.K.Tripathy at his office on Wednesday.
The suspect, clad in a checked shirt and jeans, as seen in the footage, was earlier identified by bank officials of both the branches and a few customers who had witnessed the robbery at Bank of Baroda last month, police sources said.
The man who is considered the prime suspect in both the cases had also visited other banks before committing the crimes.
“Our teams have examined CCTV footage obtained from many banks in the city and pinned down this particular clip,” Mr. Tripathy said.
Confirming that the suspect was the one who brandished a pistol during both the robberies, the Commissioner added that a shot was fired by the robbers at the Keelkattalai incident from what is suspected to be toy gun. “There was some kind of a sound but nothing inside the branch was damaged and no pellets were recovered.”
Mr. Tripathy hoped the footage as well as still images obtained from video would help track down the suspect, as his apprehension could lead to the arrest of gang members who struck at the two bank branches and escaped with more than Rs 33 lakh in cash.
“Members of the public who identify the man from the footage can call toll-free phone numbers (98408 14100 or 99520 91100) and give us information. The identity of the informer will not be revealed,” the Police Commissioner said.
Close to 30 teams are working on the robbery cases, including nine teams following clues in other States such as Jharkand, Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
Local link not ruled out
Even though the suspects are North Indians, investigators have not ruled out the assistance of local persons for the gang members. The possibility of a Maoist link has also not been ruled out.
