Police solve Rs4.23 cr robbery case after 2.5 yrs, arrest five

Mukesh Tandon

Tribune News Service

Panipat, July 20

The police have arrested five persons in a two-and-a-half-year-old robbery case, in which jewellery worth Rs 4.23 crore and Rs 2.45 lakh cash was stolen from a private gold loan company’s office at Bhim Goda Chowk on the Panipat-Haridwar highway on January 29, 2018.

The accused have been identified as Bijender of Bambar Hedi village in Karnal district; Rajiv of Chhatar village in Jind district; Imran of Kairana, Sunny of Simbhalka village, and Dawood of Roshanpura, all in Uttar Pradesh.

At a press meet on Monday, Satish Vats, DSP, Headquarter, said on a tip-off, CIA-3 team incharge Inspector Anil Chhillar nabbed the five accused from the clinic of Sunny in Sector 29 here on July 14. During a preliminary probe, they disclosed the gold heist.

It was revealed that Dawood was the main conspirator of the gold heist, the DSP said. He had come to Panipat with his family and started living at a rented accommodation in Manmohan Nagar four years ago. He was fond of gambling due to which he got debt-ridden and owed Rs 5 lakh.

Dawood made a plan to become a millionaire along with Sunny and Imran, who were also living in Panipat on rent, and decided to loot gold from Indian Infoline Finance Limited office, he added.

Three of the five accused have been taken on five-day remand again, the DSP said.

We have recovered Rs 52.25-lakh cash, 81.31-gram gold jewellery, a Swift car, 3 country-made pistols and a motorcycle used in the crime, the DSP said.

Now Sections 342, 397, 420 and 120B IPC have also been added to the FIR. The case has been transferred to the Special Task Force, the DSP added.

Panipat’s biggest gold heist

• Jewellery worth Rs 4.23 crore and Rs 2.45 lakh cash was stolen from a private gold loan company’s office at Bhim Goda Chowk on the Panipat-Haridwar highway on January 29, 2018
• It was the biggest loot in Panipat and the DGP had also announced Rs 2 lakh reward on the arrest of the accused