Burglars decamp with Rs 7 crore in cash, jewels

Burglars struck the Vijaya Bank branch at Cheruva-thur and decamped with 19-kg gold worth Rs 4 crore and Rs 3 lakh in cash on Saturday after drilling a hole to the strong room of the bank on the first floor of a two-storied building in filmi style.

The thieves had taken a shop on rent below the bank on the ground floor from July and had been carrying out repairs.

Police said the robbery took place around 11 a.m. and none suspected anything fishy as it was bank holiday.

There was no damage to the lockers indicating the connivance of some bank employees in the burglary.

The bank staff found the hole on the strong room floor on Monday when the bank reopened after two days’ holidays and informed the police.

The building, located near Cheruvathur bus stand, is owned by Abdul Rahman and he had rented out the shop to a native of Manjeswaram.

The police collected the details of the suspect and the probe team has received some clues on the robber gang.

“It was a well-planned operation. They had been working in the shop from July and nobody suspected anything even when they heard the drilling noise,” said Kasargod SP Dr. A. Srinivas.

He said many banks in the district were not following basic security guidelines. “We could not find any damage to the safety lockers. We suspect the connivance of some insiders. Or the bank staff might have forgotten to lock the lockers that day. It is a serious security breach,” the SP said.

The burglars had knowledge about the exact position of the strong room helping them to drill the tunnel to it, a police official said.

A gang of robbers had tied up the employees of the Kudlu Service Cooperative Bank and robbed 20-kg gold and Rs 17.5 lakh on September 7. The police arrested the main conspirator and some of his aides and recovered 10.5-kg gold.