Teenage cousins arrested for bank robbery in Mumbai

Since they did not know where the cash was kept, they could not steal anything except a few thousand rupees

With the arrest of two teenagers on Monday the Juhu police cracked a burglary case at Juhu branch of Axis Bank in Vile Parle. One of them worked in the bank’s canteen.

The police said the duo — Vikas Chouhan, 18, and Anil Chouhan, 19 — who are cousins, planned the burglary in September, but since they did not know where the cash was kept, they could not steal anything except a few thousand rupees.

Vikas, who once worked in the bank, started planning the burglary after losing the job as they were in dire need of money, said the police.

As per their plan, Vikas and Anil both visited the bank in the evening on November 24. While Anil left Vikas stayed behind and hid himself in a closet near the canteen. “The security guard locked the bank after everyone left. Vikas then started searching for cash but couldn’t find any. He used all the keys that he found in the bank but due to enhanced technology he was unable to break any of the lockers,” said a police officer from Juhu police station.

The police strongly suspected the role of an insider and collected information of all employees especially those who had recently left the job. The name of Vikas visiting the bank cropped up after which he was detained for questioning. He later confessed to the crime.