The Hindu : Front Page : Gold worth Rs. 4 crores stolen from bank

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 27, 2006
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Gold worth Rs. 4 crores stolen from bank

Staff Reporter

Dacoits enter Chaitanya Godavari Grameena Bank using duplicate key

LOOKING FOR CLUES: Narsaraopet DSP Pruthvi Narayana having a look at the safe in Chaitanya Grameena Bank. Photo: T.Vijaya Kumar

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NARSARAOPET: Dacoits decamped with about 40 kg. of gold valued at Rs. 4 crores from the Chaitanya Godavari Grameena Bank here by breaking into its premises using a duplicate key.

The dacoits got hold of the duplicate key of the main door and entered the bank building located in a narrow lane between Saturday evening and Tuesday morning, Inspector General, Guntur Range, Satyanarayan said. The bank did not have any security personnel to guard such a large quantum of property. They cut the door of a locker with a gas-cutting torch as they had three nights at their disposal, he said.

The dacoits decamped only with the gold and did not touch the locker in which Rs.50 lakhs in cash was also stored. Though the bank was not able to immediately ascertain the exact weight of the gold lost, the officials said the bank had given away loans to the tune of Rs.2.58 crores to farmers by pledging gold.

That is how the value of the gold is estimated at Rs.4 crores, Mr. Satyanarayan said. While one key of the main door is kept with the attender, the other is usually kept with an officer.

The police are interrogating all the bank personnel. The bank does not have a burglar alarm system either, the IG noted.

Fingerprints

The police clues teams gathered fingerprints and investigation is progressing with raids on several towns in the State and other States, the police official said.

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