Greed for amassing wealth through illegal and shortcut methods landed a big group – all first time offenders - comprising a woman and a young lad aged about 20 years as well behind bars.
The arrest of nine persons in connection with the Muthoot FinCorp gold missing case had unravelled many shocking facts.
The gang had allegedly kidnapped two of the pawn-broking firm’s employees and later took away the keys of the office, from where they decamped with 37 kg of gold, valued at a whopping Rs 10 crore.
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For the record, so far, the police had recovered 3,810 grams out of the 37 kg of gold jewels that were robbed on October 4 from the premises.
During a conversation with an investigating officer, who was part of the team, he said the task of unravelling the crime appeared a big challenge for the police in the beginning. There was absolutely no clue when the incident was made known to a small circle. Many among them were suspecting the role of some employees in the crime. “We examined some of them to find out whether they indulged in diverting the attention of police. Similarly, we also probed them to find out whether anybody had a grudge against the company. At least, 300 persons would have been investigated in the last 15 days by the teams, which went to many towns, including Kodaikanal, Arakonam, Tirunelveli and others,” he noted.
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The key accused, Selvin, a visual communication graduate from a popular college in Chennai, is suspected to be the brain behind the mega crime, the officer said. In a bid to make quick money through the shortest possible route, he had devised a plan, on which he had worked for at least over a month with his close friend and accomplice Suryanand, an MBA graduate, who had got a job in Bangalore and was about to join next month. Till last month, Suryanand was working in Muthoot FinCorp and it was his ‘idea’ which led to the loot of the Arapalayam branch, the officer added.
For instance, the planning was so meticulous that two of Selvin’s accomplices were entrusted with the task of closely monitoring the movements of Balasubramanian and Satish Kumar for at least a fortnight. The idea of the gang was to loot the pawn broking firm in a big way and pass the blame on some of its employees. In the process, the gang had ensured that there was no evidence or clue. However, discreet and scientific probe by the officers cracked the case.
In the process of investigation, the police teams found that greed to make money was the common objective of every person in the gang. But, a close look at the profile of the nine accused held so far suggested that they had immoral and illicit relationships. There activities were mostly illegal and punishable under the law. An accused in his confession to the police had said, “My parents always abused me that I am a failure in my life. I was frustrated so much that I started deeply thinking as to how to become a successful person…My friends taught me to drink. Slowly, I came in contact with some women. During one such occasion, they discussed about looting a bank…I was shocked first, but later felt that was the only way…But now I have realised that it is wrong to have taken that decision….,” the accused had admitted.
Call track
A close observation of the mobile phone calls among various suspects before, during and after the loot resulted in getting the key person to surrender in this case. The ‘mistake’ he had committed was to have used the wrong mobile phone to converse with another accomplice. Though the conversation lasted for 18 seconds, he was caught. When A-1 was fixed, the rest in the gang fell like a pack of cards. “It was just a matter of time. We are now in the process of seizing all the looted gold jewels,” the officer summed up.