Bank heist: Cops narrow down list of suspects

BHUBANESWAR: Police on Friday claimed to have zeroed in on some gangs that they feel would lead them to the criminals who committed the heist at UCO Bank in the busy Bapuji Nagar area of the city on September 28. The robbers raided the bank as early as 9.30 am when the bank was opening and decamped with Rs 13 lakh cash and gold worth Rs 40 lakh on Wednesday.
"We have made a list of persons involved in different cases of robberies.We verified their antecedents and filtered the list, which was made considering the nature of the crime," said DCP Satyabrata Bhoi. "The sketches will be prepared on the basis of description of robbers given by the bank employees, who saw the robbers from close quarters," he added.
Police said the sketches of five suspects will not be made public as these are impressions of an artist and can be wrong. "It will only be distributed among the special squad and all police stations of the state," said Bhoi.
The robbery came as a jolt to police as it took place barely 100 metres from the Capital Police Station. The offices and commercial set ups got no inkling of it.
During the robbery, a dozen unsuspecting customers were held hostage as they walked into the bank. Ten bank employees, including the peon who first saw the robbers entering the bank were also held captive by the gang till the entire robbery was over.
Sources said it has become a tough task for the police to act swiftly on the case as the CCTV cameras and computer hard disc was taken away by the robbers.