Two held for robbing staff SBI’s customer service centre in Loni

The police traced the robbers through electronic surveillance and also through CCTV footage and arrested the two accused— Raju alias Sabir and his accomplice Mohammad Arif.

The police on Monday arrested two men who charges of robbing the customer service counter of the State Bank of India in Loni’s Tronica City area on March 17.

The two men in police custody on Monday. Police said they recovered ₹20,000 of the loot and a motorcycle. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The robbers had fled with Rs 55,000 cash and also taken away three mobile phones during the incident.

The police traced the robbers through electronic surveillance and also through CCTV footage and arrested the two accused— Raju alias Sabir and his accomplice Mohammad Arif.

The officials said one of their accomplices, who provided them local information, will also be arrested soon.

Arif is from Usmanpur in Delhi and has his in-laws’ house is in Loni. He often visited Loni where he came in contact with one Sandeep, a private developer with a criminal antecedent, the police said.

They also enlisted the help of Raju in carrying out the robbery. We have recovered Rs 20,000 of the stolen cash and also the motorcycle used in the crime,” AK Maurya, officiating senior superintendent of police, Ghaziabad, said.

According to police, Sandeep was also present at the scene of crime but did not participate in the robbery. He was involved in the planning of the robbery, the police said.

According to Loni police, the men reached the service counter around noon on March 17 and fled with three mobile phones and Rs 55000 in cash after holding the staff at gunpoint. A case was registered at Tronica City police station.

According to police, Raju alias Sabir has 21 criminal cases registered against him at various police stations in Ghaziabad and Delhi while Arif has six cases against him in Delhi, Baghpat and Ghaziabad.

In a similar incident at another service centre of the same bank, three armed robbers had escaped with Rs 2.5 lakh on February 26. The police said three of the robbers were later arrested.