Hyderabad: In what seems like a scene straight out of the Akshay Kumar starrer Special 26, a gang of robbers pulled off the biggest gold heist in Telangana state’s history by posing as CBI officers and stealing 40 kg of gold from Muthoot Finance, located at Ramachandrapuram on the outskirts of the city.
Five members of the gang, wielding guns, walked into the building claiming to be conducting a raid to investigate transactions after demonetisation. They just took the gold and walked out after locking the employees in the bathroom. Before leaving, they broke the CCTVs and took away the memory backup of the branch. They also walked off with Rs 1 lakh in cash. The modus operandi is akin to the 2013 movie Special 26 where a group posing as CBI officials raids a jewellery store in Mumbai.
According to Cyberabad police, the theft took place at 9 am, soon after the branch was opened. The gang came in a black Scorpio car, walked into the building and introduced themselves as CBI officers, who were conducting a raid.
“Two members of the gang told the employees that they wanted to verify the total cash and money in this branch. Another person from the gang said they were also investigating a theft that had occurred in Muthoot Finance,” said a senior officer with the Cyberabad police.
Robbers forced manager to open lockers
They demanded to see the lockers where the gold was kept. “When the branch manager said he cannot show the lockers without getting permission from top officials of Muthoot, the men started threatening and abusing him, saying they would book him and arrest him for disobeying orders of CBI officials,” said an employee from the Muthoot office.
The branch manager was compelled to open the lockers. He still did not know they were thieves. When the lockers were opened, the gang started putting the gold ornaments into the bags they had brought with them. They also used bedsheets to carry the gold. “When the employees raised objections, one of the men took out his gun and threatened to kill him,” said a police official from Cyberabad.
The drama continued to escalate in the next few moments. While three men collected the gold, others slapped, kicked and pushed the employees into a bathroom and locked the door. The gang then escaped from the spot in their Scorpio after smashing the CCTV cameras.
