Arrests made, but questions linger on security lapses
The Chinhat branch of Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) is barely a couple of hundred metres away from the Matiyari police outpost and under a kilometre away from the Chinhat police station in the state capital.
In spite of this, a band of seven thieves managed to cut through a reinforced cement concrete or RCC wall to enter the bank, hack the security alarm system and steal contents from 42 lockers, all the while remaining undetected in the wee hours of Sunday.
The bank sits along a busy road linking Ayodhya and Matiyari Square. Despite regular police patrolling and how busy the traffic flow is on the stretch for the better part of any given day, the crime has shocked the city.
The robbery targeted lockers most of which contained jewellery and documents. Alarm systems and CCTV cameras failed to alert the authorities, and the absence of security personnel to guard the bank at night also raised concerns about security arrangements there. An official stationed at the Matiyari outpost stated that police patrolling was regularly done, but the criminals punched through that wall that fell on the side that was not often monitored. The in-charge of Chinhat police station, SHO Bharat Pathak, stated that the station was facing a manpower crunch as only 10 personnel were available to carry out regular patrolling. He, however, assured that an investigation was going on, and efforts to catch the remaining suspects and address the security gaps were also underway.
On Monday, police arrested three men involved in the heist. Arvind Kumar (22), Balram Kumar (28), and Kailash Bind (28)–all of whom hail from Bihar, were apprehended from near Kisan Path after an exchange of fire, police said in a note.
Also, ₹3 lakh in cash, 1,889 grams of gold, 1,240 grams of silver, and a country-made pistol were recovered from them. The trio, reportedly, admitted to breaking down a wall to enter the bank.
Meanwhile, efforts were underway to apprehend four of their accomplices—Mithun Kumar, Sobind Kumar, Sunny Dayal and Vipin Kumar Verma. Cases under relevant sections of the BNS and the Arms Act were registered against the incident at the Chinhat police station, stated the police note.
