STF recovers Muzaffarpur bank loot booty in 12 hours

PATNA: A team of state police’s special task force (STF) recovered Rs 16.71 lakh of the Rs 17.09 lakh looted from a Bandhan Bank branch in Muzaffarpur within 12 hours of the heist, which took place on Friday.
The five gang members had also shot at a roadside vendor Rajesh Kumar (40) when he caught one of them while they were trying to escape.
The STF personnel recovered the cash from their hideout — a rented house at Dushadhi Pakdi on 90-feet road under Kankarbagh police station area in Patna and arrested four persons.Those arrested are Nitish Kumar and Rahul Mahto of Begusarai and Sudhir Sharma and Rahul Roy from Samastipur. All accused are in the age group of 20-25 years.
The recovery within 12 hours around midnight on Friday saved the face of Muzaffarpur police, which was already facing a massive protest by traders since Friday morning over the killing of their colleague Abhishek Agarwal who was shot in the head by criminals as they took away Rs 70,000 from him around 8.30 pm on Thursday.
State police ADG (operations) Sushil Mansingh Khopde told TOI over the phone that three country-made pistols, including two semiautomatic ones, 17 live and two empty cartridges, were also recovered from the possession of the arrested persons.
“Soon after the loot, an STF team stationed in Muzaffarpur started coordinating with another team in Patna. We had some initial clues. The modus operandi of the gang which targeted the branch matched with a few criminals on whom surveillance was already mounted by STF. This resulted in the quick arrest and recovery,” Khopde said.
The ADG said three of the arrested accused are among those who were present at the branch. He said the police are trying to trace the criminal antecedents of the arrested persons.
“STF personnel laid a trap around the Kankarbagh hideout and waited until they came out to leave for another place,” the ADG said, adding further raids were on in connection with the loot.
Kankarbagh SHO (in-charge) Suman Kumar said Sudhir’s father Dinesh Sharma lived at a rented accommodation at Dushadhi Pakdi in Kankarbagh. “He works with a private firm. Till now nothing has surfaced to prove that Dinesh knew about the bank loot committed by his son and his associates,” he said.
“All four had reached the rented accommodation to take rest and have food. They were all set to leave after dinner when the STF team nabbed them,” Kumar added.