Same gang may be behind Raver and Nashik robbery bids: Top cop

NASHIK: The Nashik city police strongly suspect the involvement of same gang that stuck the Muthoot Finance Company here four days back in the robbery attempt in Jalgaon on Tuesday.

Six armed men had barged into the first-floor office of Muthoot Finance Company at Untawadi in Nashik city on June 15, threatening the customers into a corner. They then were beating up the manager, forcing him to hand over the keys to the strong room. They shot dead an IT engineer who came to the rescue of the manager.
Nashik city police commissioner, Vishwas Nangare Patil, told TOI, “I have seen the CCTV footage of the incident that took place at Vijaya Bank. Two goons are visible at the bank wearing helmets. The body structure of one of the goons has striking similarity with one of the armed robbers involved in the shooting incident at Muthoot Finance. We have re-checked the footage of the Nashik city incident,” he added.
Moreover, added Nagare Patil, the modus operandi of the armed robbers at Vijay Bank was similar to the one used during the Muthoot Finance Company dacoity attempt.
“It seems that the goons are in desperate need of cash. When their attempts went wary in Nashik city, they must have re-planned similar robbery at Raver. But their attempts were foiled again. It is sad that a bank official was killed by the goons today,” added Nagare Patil.
Police officials said the only difference between the two cases was the number of robbers involved. According to Nashik city police, two of the six armed robbers involved in the shooting incident at Muthoot were interacting in Marathi with the company officials, while the other four were completely mum.
“This has given rise to suspicion that the four robbers may not be from Maharashtra and had attempted the armed robbery at the finance company with the help of two locals,” added police officials.
According to them, similar incidents had taken place in states like Gujarat, Telangana and Madhya Pradesh. “We are in touch with our counterparts in these states, seeking feedback about the suspects in the cases registered there,” police officers said.
In the meantime, the entire police machinery of North Maharashtra has been put on alert. “The police of Jalgaon, Dhule, Nandurbar and Nashik have started naka bandi in their respective districts,” added police sources.