It took about 40 minutes for three robbers to break into the Syndicate Bank branch in Mukherjee Nagar, but getting out took over two hours. The three made away with Rs 2.3 lakh — but in 23,000 Rs 10 coins, weighing more than 160 kg. Unable to take out all coins at once, they took away just 900 in nine packets and concealed the rest under cement bags on the roof of the bank building.
The three accused — two cousins named Rahul and their associate, Anuj — were arrested Monday. Investigators who questioned them told The Indian Express they found it impossible to move the coins, packed in 49 polythene packets, and decided to leave 40 on the roof, thinking that nobody would find them.
But when ACP (Model Town) Hukma Ram visited the bank with six officers, they found the hidden stash. It took two officers more than an hour to shift the coins back to the vault room. The two cousins and their associate planned the heist for 40 days. They worked at the BBM depot that houses the bank. “The cousins are electricians. They spotted a window at the back of the depot, which housed a few abandoned buildings, and found they could enter the bank through it,” an officer said.
On the night of August 21, they broke in using an electric hand grinder after they managed to connect it to a naked wire at the abandoned building. Four-five motion sensor cameras inside the bank could not track their movements as they were non-functional, a police officer said, adding that the accused also severed the power to cameras.
The accused found two lockers — one containing currency notes and another with 23,000 coins. They immediately tried to pry open the locker with the cash, but found it was beyond their expertise. They then broke open the locker with the coins. “The brothers tried to lift the currency chest but could not move it an inch. They deliberated for a while after which they started moving one packet at a time. Anuj stood watch while the cousins laboured for more than two hours to shift the coins to the back.
They gave up on taking the money home and hid it on the roof, thinking they would come back every day and shift the money in small installments,” the officer said. They took 900 coins and spent the money on food and drinks. “Anuj, allegedly a drug addict, managed to get his hands on five packets of high-quality marijuana,” the officer said.
Police said the cousins intended to open a thermocol factory in Ghaziabad’s Loni with the money. “The elder one had seen a thermocol machine in his neighbourhood in Loni and was fascinated. He wanted to have his own factory,” the officer said.
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