3 days ago
In one of the biggest gold heists in the country, gold worth Rs 52 crore stolen from bank in Karnataka's Vijayapura
In one of the major gold heists reported in the country, thieves in Karnataka fled with gold worth Rs 52 crore from a branch of Canara Bank in Karnataka's Vijayapura district over a weekend last month.
Though the theft took place in the Managuli branch of Canara Bank in Vijayapura on May 23, the crime was discovered on May 26 when the staff came back to work. The police are yet to make any arrests in the case.
While the thieves decamped with 51 kilogram of gold ornaments, the police have yet to find out about the mode of transport of the loot.
On Monday, Laxman Nimbargi, Superintendent of Police, Vijayapura, said it is suspected that the gold ornaments were stolen between 6 pm on May 23 and 11.30 am on May 25. 'We have formed eight teams to nab the accused. It is suspected that 6 to 8 people were involved in the theft,' he added.
A police officer said it was a pre-planned theft, and the thieves waited for a long weekend, the second Saturday and Sunday, to commit the crime. The officer said the thief used a fake key to enter the bank, and switched off the alarm. They also switched off the CCTV cameras, and took away the Network Video Recorder (NVR). They only opened the bank lockers, and fled with the gold.
The Vijayapura police said that after the theft, the accused kept a black colour doll, making it look like they had performed some ritual at the crime scene.
This is not the first time that a bank has been the target of a heist in Karnataka.
On October 28 last year, a gang stole gold ornaments worth Rs 13 crore from a branch of the State Bank of India (SBI) in the Nyamathi town in Davanagere district, 325 km away from Bengaluru. The Davanagere police later arrested six people involved in the crime.
On January 17 this year, a gang robbed gold worth Rs 12 crore at the Vyavasaya Seva Sahakari Sangha Bank at Kotekar in Mangaluru. The police arrested six people in connection with the heist.
