Police arrest mastermind behind Rs. 20 lakh Dankaur heist
The city police claim to have arrested the mastermind behind the Rs. 20 lakh heist at Syndicate Bank’s Dankaur branch in October 2015. The accused was arrested from his hideout in Dankaur area.
The city police claim to have arrested the mastermind behind the Rs. 20 lakh heist at Syndicate Bank’s Dankaur branch in October 2015. The accused, identified as Kartar Bhati, was arrested from his hideout in Dankaur area, the police said. Kartar is resident of Jamalpur village.
On October 26, half a dozen armed men had stormed into the Syndicate Bank’s Dankaur branch, held the bank employees, security guards and customers at gunpoint, and made away with Rs. 20 lakh.
“We have recovered an amount of Rs. 2.5 lakh from the possession of the accused. The bundles of notes still have the seal of Syndicate Bank. It was revealed during questioning that the accused had received Rs. 5 lakh for his role in the heist but had lost around Rs. 3 lakh in betting on cricket matches,” said Jitender Kalara, station house officer, Dankaur police station.
Then SHO of Dankaur was transferred following the incident, over allegations of laxity in duty. So far, two persons, including Kartar, have been arrested in this case and a total amount of Rs. 4 lakh recovered from their possession. On January 12, one of Kartar’s accomplices, identified as Bharat Lal, was arrested from Greater Noida and Rs. 1.5 lakh was recovered from him.
“During the investigation of the case, it was found that there are more than 19 criminal cases pending against Kartar. After the bank robbery, Kartar surrendered at a local court in connection with another case and was sent to jail. He was released on bail 15 days ago and was hiding at a relative’s place,” Kalra said.
The police said prior to the heist, Kartar had done a recce of the bank premises and had also gone to the manager’s chamber to check the number of CCTV cameras installed.
“The accused was produced in court and sent to jail. A manhunt has been launched to track rest of the accused,” Kalra said.