The State intelligence has chipped in to assist the Chennai Police in the investigation of the Perungudi bank robbery case. Officials of the ‘Q' Branch and Special Branch CID have been deployed to gather intelligence on the identity of the suspects, the nature of weapons used and the possibility of a link to extremist organisations.
According to a senior police officer, though bank robberies were rare in Tamil Nadu, there was a link to extremist elements each time they were carried out.
If the Tamil Nadu Liberation Army was involved in the robbery of State Bank of India branch at Ponparappi near Ariyalur in 1987, brigand Veerappan and his associates tried to rob a bank at Pennagaram near Salem in 1991.
Even in this case, intelligence agencies are not ruling out the involvement of extremist organisations.
