Man who dug tunnel for bank robbery in Mumbai’s Sanpada held after a year

The Sanpada branch of Bank of Baroda was looted by a gang of criminals by digging a 30-feet tunnel from a nearby shop between November 10 and 12, 2017. The heist was discovered on Monday, November 13, when the bank opened after the weekend.

The Vasai police on Monday arrested a 30-year-old involved in a bank robbery at Sanpada in November last year. The Navi Mumbai police will soon take the arrested accused, Sanjay Kamble, into custody. Kamble is a resident of Agarwadi, Vasai and has previous criminal records.

The tunnel started at Shree Balaji general store and ended at the locker room of the Bank of Baroda’s Sanpada branch which is two shops and one ATM kiosk away. Robbery done by making a tunnel inside Bank of Baroda at Juinagar in Navi Mumbai, on Wednesday, November 15, 2017. (HT File Photo)

The Sanpada branch of Bank of Baroda was looted by a gang of criminals by digging a 30-feet tunnel from a nearby shop between November 10 and 12, 2017. The heist was discovered on Monday, November 13, when the bank opened after the weekend.

The gang looted 27 lockers and stole cash and jewellery worth ₹3.43 crore. The police arrested as many as 11 culprits, including one of the main conspirators, Hazid Ali Mirja Baig, 47, within a few weeks. Four other accused, including Kamble were at large.

Prakash Birajdar, inspector of Waliv police station, Vasai, said, “Kamble does not stay at his resident at Agarwadi. On Monday we received a tip off that he was visiting his residence. Our teams immediately reached there and arrested him.”

According to the police, in the bank heist, Kamble was mainly involved in digging the tunnel and transportation of stolen goods.

Suraj Padvi, senior inspector of Sanpada police station said, “It is not yet clear where Kamble was for one year. We will interrogate him after taking him into custody. The transfer warrant has been issued. He should be in our custody by Thursday.”

Three other culprits involved in the robbery are still absconding. One of them is the mastermind, Deepak Mishra.