Stephan Kayyar
Daijiworld Media Network - Kasargod (RJP)
Kasargod, Oct 4: Police have arrested four persons in connection to the theft at Chervatthur branch of Vijaya Bank and also recovered the entire stolen gold.
S Sulaiman alias Ismail (50) from Baithanahalli in Kushalnagar, Abdul Lathif (35), presently residing at Balal in Kanhangad and previously in Santoshnagar in Kasargod, Manaf Abdul Khader alias Manaf (30) from Cherkala and Mubashir (21) from Balal in Kanhangad are the persons arrested.
Of the seven persons involved in the case, Rajesh Murali from Idukki, Ashraf from Kodagu and another person are absconding.
Among the arrested, Manaf helped in hiding the gold. Abdul Lathif is the first accused, Rajesh Murali the second accused and Ismail and Manaf the third and the fourth accused respectively.
The police seized the stolen gold that was hidden at Cherur in Cherkala. They also found gold dumped in a well and at a shed near the well on Saturday October 3. The remaining gold was recovered on Sunday October 4.
Police had investigated the case keeping the previous dacoities in mind. When the police enquired Abdul Lathif who had introduced Sulaiman to the landlord of the building where the bank is located, the whole episode opened up.
The plot to loot the bank was hatched three months ago. Sulaiman took a room on rent just below the bank on the pretext of starting a fancy shop. He had rented the shop claiming to be from Manjeshwar and had given fake documents to support his claim. Later it was learnt that he did not belong to Manjeshwar.
There were bank holidays between September 25 and 27 and the gang utilised this opportunity. The theft was committed on September 27 after a hole was drilled from the rented room to the strong room of the bank above it, and 19.75 kilograms of gold worth Rs 4.75 crore and cash of Rs 2.75 lac were stolen. The bank staff discovered the theft on September 28 when they joined work after the weekend.
The role of labourers from North India who had come to work in the rented room was suspected initially, but ultimately with the help of the cyber cell the mystery was solved. The police checked more than 4,000 call records from Chervatthur area between September 24 and 26. They found the telephone number of Abdul Lathif who was part of a jewellery shop theft in 2010.
Abdul Lathif is the main conspirator in the case. He had stolen 15 kg of gold jewellery worth Rs 3 crore from a jewellery shop at Kanhangad on April 15, 2010 in broad daylight on a Friday when the staff had gone to mosque for prayers. He was arrested and jailed in the case, and released just recently. Lathif had once worked in the Gulf, but took to crime after coming back to India.
When the police zeroed in on Abdul Lathif, it became easier for them to solve the mystery. When they subjected him to the interrogation, he spilled the beans about the role of Sulaiman and others in the theft. Even the place where the gold was hidden was revealed by him.
The investigation team led by Kasargod superintendent of police Dr A Srinivas, DySP Harishchandra Nayak cracked the case.
Lapse of bank also to be probed
The negligence and lapses on the part of the bank staff will also be probed. As two keys of the bank lockers have gone missing, the role of the bank staff, if any, will also be looked into, said SP Srinivas.
Police took nine days to solve mystery
If the Kudlu bank robbery was solved in ten days, Chervatthur bank theft case was solved in 9 days. The same team of Dr A Srinivas, the police superintendent and DySP Harishchandra Nayak had solved the Kudlu bank case also.
The Chervatthur case had given sleepless nights to the police as well as to the bank customers. All the gold stolen from Chervatthur Vijaya Bank has been recovered, but half of the gold stolen from Kudlu bank is yet to be traced.