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Probe into Uttarakhand robbery helps police thwart heist in Gujarat
Police in Dehradun, during their investigation into the Reliance Jewellery showroom robbery case in the city, foiled a heist planned in Mehsana, Gujarat and arrested one of the members of the Bihar-based gang that was behind a spate of robberies across states, officers aware of the matter said.
Police in Dehradun, during their investigation into the Reliance Jewellery showroom robbery case in the city, foiled a heist planned in Mehsana, Gujarat and arrested one of the members of the Bihar-based gang that was behind a spate of robberies across states, officers aware of the matter said.
The accused was identified as Vikas Kumar, a resident of Muzaffarpur. Dehradun senior superintendent of police (SSP) Dehradun Ajai Singh said that the probe pointed them to a wider nexus that involved meticulously planned heists in different parts of the country. “Our multiple teams have been conducting raids in different states and gathering relevant information for our investigation into the Reliance Jewellery showroom. We got an input that members of a Bihar-based gang, run by key accused in the Dehradun robbery case Shashank Singh (25), who worked with jewel thief Subodh Kumar, were planning to carry out a major robbery in Mehsana,” SSP Singh said.
“We shared this information without counterparts in Gujarat and stationed a team there. After collection of necessary inputs about the accused, we arrested Vikas Kumar, a member of Shashank’s gang, in a joint operation with Gujarat Police when he was on the recce of the jewellery store on their radar,” he added.
During questioning, the accused confirmed the plan to carry out a robbery at the jewellery store, and that he was staking out the area for several days, the SSP said.
According to police, the arrested accused was facing three criminal cases in Vaishali and Patna districts of Bihar.
Meanwhile, the Dehradun Police is bringing the key accused in Reliance Jewellery showroom robbery case, Shashank, to the city on a three-day transit remand. The accused was lodged in Beur jail in Patna before getting bail on January 6. Hours later, he was arrested from a public place, said a police officer privy to the investigation.
“He (Shashank) revealed he along with Subodh had targeted Manappuram Gold showroom in Barrackpore, West Bengal and robbed 28kg of gold in 2016. Then they targeted the Muthoot Finance branch in Asansol and robbed 55kg of gold in 2017. However, the two parted ways and operated their gangs separately,” Singh said.
So far, 11 accused have been arrested in the case.
On November 9, five people robbed jewellery worth at least ₹14 crore from a Reliance Jewellery showroom in Dehradun.
The recovery of the loot continues to remain a challenge for the investigators. “We’re are working on it. The way they operate, it’s hard to connect the dots,” the SSP had earlier said.
