Tirunelveli (Tamil Nadu): Two days after arresting three accused in the sensational Mangaluru bank robbery case, Police stumbled upon 15kg gold jewellery worth nearly Rs 12 crore in Tirunelveli during raid in the house of the one of the arrested individuals.
On January 17 at around 11:30 am, a gang of six masked robbers armed with pistols and knives broke into Kotekar Agricultural Cooperative Bank on the KC Road area under Ullal police limits near Mangaluru, Karnataka.
The gang allegedly threatened the staff and forced them to open the vault containing gold jewellery and other valuables and decamped with cash and gold worth crores of rupees. Reportedly, around four to five employees were present in the bank at the time of the incident.
Receiving information, Ullal police reached the spot for an investigation. On the basis of a complaint, a case was registered and more than six police teams were formed to carry out search operation in states including Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Maharashtra.
Three Robbers Arrested
During the course of the investigation, first suspect Kannan Mani, hailing from Tamil Nadu's Nellai district, was nabbed by the police in Mumbai. Based on his statements, two more suspects Murugandi (36) and Joshua were arrested two days ago by the Mangaluru Special Police from Padmaneri village near Kalakkadu in Nellai district. They were produced at the Ambasamudram Criminal Magistrate's Court, before being taken to Mangaluru.
As per police, two kg of gold ornaments, Rs 3 lakh cash, a car with Mumbai registration number, two country-made pistols and three live bullets were seized from their possession. Karnataka Special Police expedited investigation when the trio revealed during investigation that additional gold jewellery has been hidden in Nellai.
15 Kg Gold Jewellery Seized
A team of police led by Inspector Rajendran immediately raided accused Murugandi's house in Nellai and unearthed nearly 15 kg gold jewellery stashed in the house, the price of which is estimated to be around Rs 12 crore. Officials are questioning Murugandi's 65-year-old father Shanmuga Sundaram in connection with the concealed gold jewellery.
However, police is yet to confirm if the gold jewellery seized from Murugandi's house is the same gold stolen from the cooperative bank in Mangaluru. Further investigation into this is underway.
Police informed all the three persons arrested in this case are from Nellai district and had been living in Mumbai for the last few years. It is being said that several people from other states like Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh are also involved in this robbery case.
