A bag of money and gold bangles that were looted from a State Bank of India (SBI) branch in Karnataka, in a daring heist by three masked men, were recovered from the roof of a house in Maharashtra on Friday.
The bag was found during a search operation that was jointly carried out by the Maharashtra and Karnataka police after gold ornaments worth Rs 20 crore and Rs 1 crore cash was stolen from the SBI branch in Karnataka's Chadachan town on Tuesday evening.
According to police officials, the house in Huljanti area of ​​Mangalvedha taluka in Maharashtra's Pandharpur was locked when the bag was found on its roof. Visuals from the spot showed an official struggling to carry the bag on his own, due to the weight of the stolen items.
It could not be immediately ascertained how much of stolen money and gold was recovered from the house.
On Tuesday evening, the masked men, dressed in military-style uniforms and armed with guns, stormed into the SBI bank to carry out the heist. They overpowered the bank staff, tied up the manager and other employees, before locking them inside the toilet. They also tied the hands and legs of the staff and customers with plastic bags to prevent them from moving, the victims said.
The accused then asked the branch manager to open the cash vault for counting and forced the staff to open the gold locker. "Take out the cash, otherwise I will kill you," one of them told the branch manager.
The robbers then filled their bags with cash and customers' gold ornaments and fled.
An initial investigation revealed that the gang used a van with a fake number plate to carry out the robbery. They fled towards Pandharpur in neighbouring Maharashtra. After entering the Solapur district, they met with an accident, leading to an argument with local residents. The robbers then fled the spot along with looted jewellery and cash, the police had said.
"The accused used an Ecco vehicle with a fake number plate to commit the offence. After an accident with a two-wheeler, they escaped from the spot with the loot," Vijayapura Superintendent of Police Lakshman Nimbargi earlier said.
