NBFC heist: 3.5 kg stolen gold found at cop’s house in Chennai

CHENNAI: The investigation into the heist at a non-banking financial arm of Federal Bank in Arumbakkam has opened a can of worms. According to a police source, 3.5 kg of stole gold has been recovered from the house of an officer associated with the Acharapakkam police station. Investigations are on to determine what role he had played, if any, in the sensational robbery on Saturday.

The police detained Amalraj, the Acharapakkam inspector, based on information provided by one of the accused, Santosh, who is his relative said sources. Santhosh was arrested, along with another accused Balaji, on Sunday. The police recovered 18 kg of gold from the duo.

Police were given five-day custody of Santhosh and Balaji by the 5th Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Egmore on Wednesday. During the interrogation, Santhosh allegedly said he had hidden the last of the stolen gold at Amalraj’s home. The officers quickly went to Amalraj’s home and found the gold. 

Based on the discovery, the investigation team picked up Amalraj and took him into custody for questioning. A senior police officer said, "Amalraj was posted in Acharapakkam only a couple of months ago and for the past week he was on medical leave."

On Saturday afternoon, three masked men robbed 31.7 kg of gold jewellery and cash from the NBFC branch. As per the initial reports, the branch manager was held at knifepoint and the key to the locker was forcibly taken from him. On Tuesday, two days after the robbery, the city police said they had recovered 28 kg of the 31.7 kgs of gold that was stolen.

According to a press release by the city police, they officially arrested the mastermind Murugan (29) and his accomplices Suryaprakash (29) and Senthil Kumaran (38) on Thursday. The police recovered 9.28 kgs of gold jewellery from them.  

The police said Murugan had been working at the branch for the past two-and-a-half years and colluded with his school friends, who lived in the same locality, to rob the branch.