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Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The perpetrator of Tuesday’s 6.64 lakh robbery from Punjab National Bank’s Scheme 54 branch in Indore has been identified as an ex-army man. On Wednesday, police officials said that the accused was identified after he removed the mask and raincoat in Shyam Nagar. He committed the crime to pay off his debts. The accused, however, is still at large.
Commissioner of Police Rakesh Gupta said that the incident occurred around 4.41 pm on Tuesday and the accused took only four minutes to commit the crime. The accused wearing a mask and raincoat to avoid identification entered the bank and opened fire to terrify bank employees.
Later, he threw his bag and told the cashier to put cash inside it. The accused later fled the scene with cash on his green coloured motorcycle parked outside the bank. The entire incident was captured in CCTVs of the bank and other places. DCP (zone-2) Abhinay Vishwakarma, Additional DCP (zone-2) Amarendra Singh, ACP (Vijay Nagar) Krishna Lalchandani, Lasudia police station in-charge Taresh Soni and Vijay Nagar police station staff did commendable job in identifying the accused, he declared.
Gupta said that teams checked about 1,172 CCTVs installed around the spot, Bapat Square, MR-10, Gauri Nagar, Deendayal Upadhyay Nagar, Lavkush Awas Vihar, Abhinandan Nagar and roads between Gauri Nagar and Veena Nagar; and Veena Nagar and Shyam Nagar till Tuesday. While scurrying through the CCTV recordings, police found a person removing raincoat and mask in a CCTV. His face was clearly visible in a CCTV
After checking more than 200 houses the police traced him to a house at 4:30am in the wee hours of Wednesday with the help of green motorcycle parked outside. To confirm their suspicion, the cops knocked at a neighbour’s door to find out about a man carrying a rifle. The neighbour reportedly informed the police that the man, who owns that green bike, was an ex-army man and also carried a rifle. He told cops that the man worked as security guard somewhere in the city.
When the police knocked at the accused’s house, a woman named Priti opened the door and confirmed that the bike belonged to her husband Arun Kumar Singh.
Accused's wife bought TV within 3 hrs of getting cash
Ongoing investigation in the bank robbery incident revealed that ex-serviceman Arun Kumar Singh after robbing cash at gunpoint from the bank, fled the scene and reached home. He entered the bank and fled with cash within four minutes. He gave cash to his wife and she bought a TV worth Rs 55k from an electronic showroom within three hours.
ACP (Vijay Nagar) Krishan Lalchandani informed Free Press that Arun Singh had given some cash to his wife around 5 pm and left the house without informing his wife. After that his wife reached a showroom and she bought a television for Rs 55k and reached home. The police have also recovered the TV from the house. According to the police, the wife of the accused was unaware about the cash so she immediately reached an electronic showroom and bought the TV. However, the police are gathering more information about the incident and a search is on for the accused.
Accused worked in a jewellery showroom near bank
Preliminary investigation revealed that Arun Kumar Singh had joined the Indian Army in 1999 and he was terminated from service in 2006 due to some medical terms. He later started a job as a security guard for a nationalised bank in Palasia area. After that he was working as a security guard in a jewellery showroom near PNB in Scheme Number 54 so he was aware of the bank. Police believed that he had prepared a plan for robbery in the bank a few months ago. However, the exact situation would be known only after his arrest. He left his job in April and has been unemployed since. He used to consume liquor and was facing financial difficulties. He hails from Etah district in UP and was currently staying in Shyam Nagar area of the city with his wife and an 18-year-old daughter for a few years.
Rifle helped police to identify accused
According to Gupta, the man, who was seen in the CCTV, carrying a rifle was licenced and the licensed gun is carried by a security guard. When he entered the bank, a bullet fell on the floor so he immediately took the bullet so police believed that either he was an army personnel or policeman as training for the same is given in army or police. When he fled the scene, another man, who was outside the bank, was also seen going towards the accused so he was also a suspect in the case. However, the police caught him and questioned when it was cleared he was not involved in the incident and only one person was involved in the robbery.
Every team given a different task
To identify the accused, about 15 teams were constituted for investigation and each team had been given different work. According to Gupta, a team was instructed to examine CCTVs of the entire route. Another team was told to check the record of security guards working in the area. To check the number of licences issued for guns, another team was instructed to gather information about licence holders while some teams were deployed at exit points of the city to check the men with same appearance fleeing from the city. Police checked vehicles at exit points on Ujjain Road, Dewas Road, Dhar Road and Khandwa Road but no clue was found about the accused till 8 pm. Then, police believed that the accused resides in the city itself.
