Cops arrest ‘Laden’ who arranged men for foiled bank heist
The robbery was foiled when a vigilant police constable, inside the bank, heard noises and fired in the air.
The Police on Tuesday arrested 21-year old Hanuman Bishnoi alias Laden who played the key role in the robbery attempt at Axis Bank in Jaipur’s Ashok Nagar area on February 6.
Bishnoi was instrumental in arranging the men who tried to rob the bank’s chest branch that had deposits worth Rs 832 crore, said Manoj Choudhary, additional deputy commissioner of police (DCP), Jaipur South. The robbery was foiled when a vigilant police constable, inside the bank, heard noises and fired in the air. Hearing the gunfire, the 13 men fled.
“Bishnoi said that he was asked to arrange men for looting a hawala operator. He was told that the men would get about Rs 10-15 lakh each while he would get a bigger share,” said the additional DCP.
He said that Bishnoi was moving from one district to another and was not using any phone since the attempted robbery. “On Monday, we received input from our intelligence that he has boarded a truck from Phalodi to Jaipur. Late on Monday night, he was trying to board a truck towards Chhatisgarh near Bagru toll plaza,” he added.
Bishnoi had relatives in Chhattisgarh and he was planning to go and spend a few months there till the matter cools down, he revealed to the police during the investigation. He was rounded up around 3 am on Monday and arrested later during the day after interrogation.
The police have so far 14 people have been arrested in connection with the robbery attempt and nearly a dozen are yet to be arrested, the police said. Thirteen persons had reached the bank and broken the first gate after tying up the security guard and jumping into the bank premises. Sixteen men had come from Jodhpur in two cars and while thirteen went to the bank, three waited near the Bagru toll.
Of the thirteen men, the police arrested eight, all in their twenties, from Jodhpur on February 11 and 12. Seven were arrested in Mohali by Punjab police with about Rs 1 crore in demonetized currency on Monday. Of the seven, five were involved in the Jaipur bank robbery attempt.
Among the five, Ravinder and Rajkumar, residents of Faridabad, had information about the bank and finances and they approached Sandeep Bishnoi, Kishore Nayak and Lakhan Sharma. The latter were residents of Jaipur and they approached two persons, the key conspirators in the robbery, who are still absconding. The duo had, in turn, approached Hanuman Bishnoi who arranged the men for the attempt.