A four-member gang might have been behind the heist of 20 kg of gold worth ₹6 crore while it was being transported to a gold refining firm at Binanipuram, it is now suspected.
This has emerged with the arrest of one of the suspects, Vipin George, 22, of Muthalakodam in Thodupuzha, by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) from his house on Thursday.
He was produced before the court and remanded on Friday. The police are set to file a plea for his custody for collecting further evidence and tracing the remaining suspects. Cyber cell, it is learnt, played a critical role in tracking him down. The breakthrough comes more than a fortnight after the heist.
According to sources, a person who had previously worked as a driver at CGR Metalloys Private Limited, the gold refining firm at Binanipuram, plotted the heist. It is suspected that he mobilised his three friends, all residents of Idukki, to execute the plan.
The police had initially suspected the involvement of a two-member gang after it emerged that two unidentified men had robbed the gold after smashing the car in which 25 kilograms of gold was being transported on the night of May 9. The robbery had taken place in front of CGR Metalloys Private Limited when the car was stopped for the security guard to open the gate.
The police had also examined the CCTV footage of two motorcycle-bound men fleeing from the spot. But now it is suspected that four persons were involved in the crime and that two others were waiting inside a car in the vicinity when the robbery was taking place.
The stolen gold is suspected to be with the other three absconding suspects and the police believe that the gang had not been able to sell it. Efforts were on to trace them.
The investigation into the case was handed over to the SIT led by Aluva DySP K.A. Vidyadharan after there was no major breakthrough in the initial days.
