Fedbank gold heist: 2 arrested; 18 kg gold recovered

CHENNAI: City Police on Sunday arrested two persons, V Balaji (30) and M Santosh (28) of Villivakkam in connection with the daylight robbery of 32 kg gold robbery from Fedbank branch in Arumbakkam a day ago.

A senior police officer said that about 18 kg of gold was recovered from Balaji and Santosh and two getaway cars were seized from them.

Police are yet to arrest the prime suspect, Murugan, a staff of Fedbank who orchestrated the heist. Murugan is working in another branch of Fedbank. Investigation is underway to find the whereabouts of Murugan and another suspect, Surya.

Murugan allegedly spiked the drink of the security guard and gained entry into the branch around 3 pm on Saturday. He had then threatened his co-workers under knifepoint, gagged them and made way with Rs 20 crore worth gold jewellery.

Fedbank is a non-banking financial firm, a subsidiary of Federal bank, disbursing gold loans. Passerby who saw the security guard lying unconscious outside the firm alerted the police.

Police sources said that the staff on duty - K Suresh (30) and R Vijayalakshmi (36) of KK Nagar were threatened at knifepoint and the strong room key was taken away. The staff were locked up in a room when the gang carried the heist.

Four special teams which were formed to trace the suspects began perusing CCTV footages and found that after the heist, Murugan and others escaped in two wheelers. A police team investigated in the neighbourhood in Padi, where Murugan resides and traced two of his accomplices, Balaji and Santosh.

Balaji provided him with a car, police sources said. An official privy to the investigation said that the accused had updated his WhatsApp status with a dialogue from the movie, Valimai, hours before the heist. “There is no right or wrong in this world. If we can justify our acts, then it is right. If not, then it is wrong, ” goes the dialogue.