Muthoot Finance: gang had delayed gold mission by a day

January 16, 2017 12:23 am | Updated 12:24 am IST - HYDERABAD:

The dacoity at Muthoot Finance’s R.C. Puram branch, where 41.8 kilograms of gold were stolen, would have taken place a day earlier had the gang members not started a little late on December 27, 2016. They deferred it to the next day as the hardware shops on the ground floor had opened by the time they reached. On December 28, they returned, earlier this time, at around 9.15 a.m. and literally struck gold.

In fact, the gang members were expecting to steal about 10 to 15 kg of gold jewellery only, and not 41.8 kg that was reportedly stolen. “They were pretty confident. The planning had begun about eight months ago. The gang reached the spot at around 9.35 a.m. on December 27, 2016, and by then all the shops had opened. So, they decided to commit the crime a day later,” said a senior official of the Cyberabad police.

They particularly chose the R.C. Puram branch and not the Parigi or Chevella branches of Muthoot Finance as it was easy to evade the police in traffic. “Had it been the other two places, then the car (Mahindra Scorpio) could have easily been identified,” pointed out the official. The car had a Maharashtra number plate earlier, and later an ‘AP’ number plate while it was retreating.

Lakhsman Narayan Mudhang and Vijay Kumar, two of the five accused who were arrested by the Cyberabad police, had conducted a reconnaissance and had even assessed all the employees of the branch. They targeted the branch as nearly half of the employees were young, said Cyberabad Police Commissioner Sandeep Shandilya at a press conference on Sunday.

Where the car used in the heist was procured from is yet to be ascertained. The gang members not only changed the chassis number everywhere, but even fabricated documents pertaining to its registration. “We traced a car bearing the same Maharashtra number to a man, but his vehicle is with him. The car was bought by the gang in 2007 and may have been procured from Uttar Pradesh,” the official said.

On Sunday, two of the accused — jeweller Kumar Pal Trilokchand Shah and Subhash Pujari Pandey — were produced before the media at the press conference, where Shah went on to say that the gold seized from him was stock from his shop and that he had gone to give Subhash money for it.

Except Shah, Subhash and the other three gang members are currently facing trail and are even wanted in pending cases against them, the official said.

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