Kanpur Money Heist! Thieves dig 10-feet-long tunnel to SBI branch, loot nearly ₹1 crore of gold

Police said the robbers dug a tunnel about four feet wide from a vacant lot near the Bhanuti branch of SBI.

The unidentified thieves used gas breaker to open the locker. They disabled the alarm system and turned the only CCTV in the strong room in a different way.

According to bank officials, the gang stole more than 1.8kg of gold worth about $1 core.

Police and forensic officials investigating the ‘robbery’ found the tunnel was dug from a vacant lot adjacent to the bank’s fortified room and covered with shrubbery.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Western) Vijay Dhull suspects that some bank insiders are also involved in this crime.

“It could have been the work of an insider who committed the crime with the help of crime experts. We found several clues, including fingerprints from the storage room. , can help break the robbery,” said Dhull.

Preliminary investigations show that the thieves must have learned about the area and were familiar with the building and architecture of the bank as well as the fortified room and gold chest.

BP Police Commissioner Jogdand said the robbery came to light Friday morning when bank officials found the chest of gold and the vault door was open.

Bank officials also found the tunnel through which the thieves entered the room, he added.

Senior police officials, forensic experts and a police team arrived at the bank and opened an investigation.

Bank manager Neeraj Rai told police that the gold belonged to 29 people who borrowed money against it.

A case has been registered under Section 379 (theft) of the Indian Penal Code in this regard. A similar case happened in Kanpur in 1997, in which thieves broke into SBI’s Govind Nagar branch after digging a 60 meter long tunnel.