Fedbank heist: 28 kg gold recovered, say police

CHENNAI: Chennai police on Tuesday said that they have recovered 28 kg of the stolen gold from the Arumbakkam Fedbank branch and have detained the mastermind, Murugan and his accomplice Surya, two days after the daylight heist.

While preliminary reports had suggested that 31.7 kg gold was stolen, police are co-ordinating with bank officials to check the inventory again as all the suspects who shared the stolen good have been either arrested or detained.

Within 24 hours of the amateurish heist attempt orchestrated by Murugan, a staff of Fedbank, police had arrested two of his childhood friends, V Balaji and M Santhosh of Villivakkam and recovered 18 kg of gold from them.

Murugan who had made entry into the bank with two associates after allegedly giving a spiked drink to the security guard had shared the booty with Balaji and Santhosh. Another accomplice, Senthil Kumaran who provided the gang with escape vehicles was also arrested by the Arumbakkam police.

Meanwhile on Monday night, Murugan’s friend, Suryah (28) of Villivakkam who was in possession of the share was picked up from a hideout in Villupuram, police sources said and added that 10 kg of gold was recovered from Suryah. Suryah, police said was among the three who went into the bank with Murugan.

On Tuesday, a team from Chennai police conducted investigations with a jeweller in Coimbatore who is suspected to have agreed to buy the stolen gold. Further investigations are on to secure two other suspects who were involved in logistics support to the gang, police source said.

The heist, which had all the markers of a fool’s errand was carried out on Saturday, around 2.30 pm. A film dialogue on the WhatsApp status of the main accused a few hours before the heist was widely believed to suggest his state of mind, but officials rejected any such ‘inspiration’ theories and maintained that Murugan and his childhood friends believed they would getaway easily.

Police are also probing the versions of the security guard and have planned to write to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to conduct an audit on the safety systems in banks as preliminary investigations have revealed that the alarm which was supposed to go off when the safe room was opened did not set off.

Further investigations are on.