The Police said the accused, Vinay Vishal Sharma (52), was arrested from M block, GK- I. Ghaziabad police have arrested nine persons involved in three separate cases of robbery. The police action comes in the wake of back-to-back lootings in the district. The arrested include six persons involved in the Punjab National Bank robbery that took place in Nandgram last week, police said.
The main accused in the Rs 22 lakh robbery at a petrol pump in Masuri last month has also been arrested after a brief encounter. The accused, Sundar Singh, was carrying a bounty of Rs 50,000, police said.
“We have made arrests in the PNB case. One of the accused, who hails from Haryana, is currently absconding and teams have been formed to nab him. We will take the accused on remand and carry out the questioning,” said Praveen Kumar, IG, Range Meerut.
The accused told police during interrogation that they wanted money to live an extravagant life and were exploring options to get money. One of the accused, Robin, told others that his uncle has an account in the PNB Noor Nagar branch, and the security on its premises was lax, police said.
According to police, the seven accused, residents of Nandgram itself, decided to rob the bank. They divided roles as some decided to go inside the bank while others stayed outside to keep watch. The accused fled with nearly Rs 11 lakh out of which almost Rs 8 lakh has been recovered, police said. The accused are in their 20s and most of them perform odd jobs, said police.
Police will also investigate lapses on the part of the security personnel of the bank.
Two other accused have been arrested for allegedly robbing a passerby at Pratap Vihar Tuesday night.
Ghaziabad SSP was suspended last week for being unable to control incidents of crime in the district. In his place, 2009 batch IPS officer Muniraj G was given the posting.
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