Rs 25 lakh bank money recovered within 2 hours of loot in Gaya

In a prompt action, police recovered Rs 25 lakh, looted from the cash van of a public sector bank and arrested all the five accused within two hours of the incident in Bihar’s Gaya district, 107km from Patna, on Tuesday.

The accused were trying to escape to the neighboring Nawada district when they were arrested, police said, adding that the vehicle used in the crime had also been seized.

The criminals had earlier in the day looted Rs 25 lakh from the cash van of Punjab National Bank (PNB) after injuring the driver near Parahi village on Bodh Gaya-Mohanpur road, about 40 km away from here.

“We are still counting the cash. But we believe that the entire looted amount has been recovered,” the police said.

Police said they had sealed all the escape routes soon after the incident. “As soon as we spotted the car, matching the description of the vehicle used in the incident, we chased it and overtook it about 200 meters ahead of Fatehpur block in the district from where the criminals had intended to sneak into Jharkhand. All the five occupants of the car have been arrested and the looted money has been recovered,” the police added..

Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Garima Malik told HT that firearms used to commit the crime had also been recovered. All the accused had been brought to Gaya and they were being interrogated, she said.

The Gaya police, sources said, were trying to find out if the arrested persons had any links with those involved in the loot of Rs 60 lakh from the bank cash of PNB at Belchhi in Patna district.

About eight motorcycle-borne criminals had looted Rs 60 lakh from the cash van of PNB after killing two guards of a security agency and the driver on the busy Barh-Harnaut (national highway-30A) road in Belchhi police station area of Patna district on Monday..