₹1.5 crore bank heist: Former staffer arrested, cash recovered

Hours after ₹1.5 crore was robbed from a bank in Kathua, a former staffer was arrested with the stolen cash

Hours after ₹1.5 crore was robbed from a bank in Kathua, a former staffer was arrested with the stolen cash on Tuesday.

Unidentified gunmen had broken into an HDFC Bank branch at Hatli Morh on Sunday night. They had also tied up the night guard on duty. (Representative Image/HT File)

The arrested accused, Jagbir Singh Jaggu of Tara Nagar, had hidden the cash in the water tank of his house. His accomplice, Sukhvinder Singh alias Sukhi of Rishi Nagar, is absconding.

Kathua district police chief, senior superintendent of police Ramesh Kotwal said, “We have arrested the main accused, a former bank employee, and have recovered the stolen cash. His co-accused may have fled to Chandigarh or Punjab, but we will arrest him soon.”

A police team has been sent to Chandigarh to arrest Sukhi.Unidentified gunmen had broken into an HDFC Bank branch at Hatli Morh on Sunday night. They had also tied up the night guard on duty.

They had entered the bank branch from the rooftop after breaking the door handle with the help of iron cutters. Around ₹19 lakh, which the robbers could not put in bags, was left on the bank’s roof. Besides guard, some bank employees had also been questioned in connection with the heist.