A month after the midnight heist at the Bank of Baroda branch of Kundarapalli here, the police are yet to make a breakthrough in the high profile case in which burglars decamped with 48.308 kg of mortgaged jewellery.
Speculation in the local media on the arrest of a Jharkhand man, purported to have been involved in the heist, has given a sense of false relief to customers and the local bank authorities alike. The man was arrested during the course of investigation. Mithun Mandel (24), a resident of Jamnagar in Jharkhand, was involved in a robbery in a cooperative society in Balakottanapalli in Thalli recently. He had stolen a computer monitor and a UPS.
When contacted, Inspector General of Police – West Zone, K. Shankar, dismissed the reports as mere speculation. “The arrest had nothing to do with the bank heist and was related to an independent robbery attempt in Thalli,” he told The Hindu .
In the midnight heist on January 24, a total of 6,038 sovereigns packed in 975 pouches were stolen from one of the three safety lockers from the strong room. Following this, 10 special teams were formed to work on the cold leads and teams were deputed across States.
The bank branch is yet to be visited by the insurance team. “The jewels are insured by New India Assurance, and papers are being processed through our regional office in Coimbatore. But, we haven’t received any team form the insurance company yet,” says M.S. Udhay Bhaskar, branch manager, Bank of Baroda, Kundarapalli.
However, the bank has already sent out obligation letters to customers, assuring them of remediation. Bank authorities are equally in the dark about how long it will take for a remediation. It is believed that insurance claim can be made only on receipt of a case closure report from the police.
“We have a master policy on these issues. Usually, we need a closure report from the police for insurance claims, but we haven’t heard anything yet,” says the branch manager.
“We read that one person has been arrested. We believe others will be caught soon,” says Raja, who lost 15 sovereigns. “This is a big case, and the bank has lost as much as each of us. It is not just one person’s loss, hundreds of customers have lost. We will just remain patient,” Raja said.
