Kotekar Cooperative Bank robbery case: Plot hatched 6 months ago; 3 visits before the robbery
Mangaluru: Mangaluru police have taken into custody the father of the accused in connection with the robbery at Kotekar Agricultural Cooperative Bank. Police have intensified the investigation after arresting three key suspects along with the stolen gold jewellery. During the investigation, it was revealed that the prime accused, Murugandi Tevar, had planned the robbery nearly six months ago, as informed by Police Commissioner Anupam Agrawal.
The Police Commissioner shared the details in a press conference at his office on Monday. He mentioned that Shashi Thevar, a Mangaluru native residing in Mumbai, had identified Kotekar Bank as suitable for the robbery, citing a lack of security. Accordingly, Murugandi Thevar visited Mangaluru in August, October, and November of 2024 to survey the bank. He chose January 17 as the day for the heist. On the day of the robbery, three accused arrived by car from Mumbai, while two others arrived by train. The accused reached the location at 12:20 PM, waited for a while, and then broke into the bank around 1:10 PM before fleeing, the Commissioner explained.
During the investigation, the accused confessed that Shashi Thevar, a local resident, had assisted them in the robbery. The police are now searching for him and four other suspects, said Commissioner Anupam Agrawal.
Mangaluru Police crack state's biggest robbery case
The robbers stole 18.674 kg of gold and ₹11,67,044 on the day of the heist. Through coordinated operations with Tamil Nadu and Mumbai police, Mangaluru police recovered 18.314 kg of gold, ₹3,80,500 in cash, two pistols, three live bullets, a Fiat car, and a fake number plate. Several teams led by ACPs Dhanya and Manoj worked continuously for four days across Tamil Nadu and Mumbai, traveling over 2700 km, the Police Commissioner stated.
The arrested prime accused MurugaThevar is also linked to other major robbery cases in Mumbai, with cases filed against him in Mulund and two other police stations. Another accused, Joshua Rajendran, has cases in Mumbai and Gujarat.
Kannan Mani has a case registered against him in Mumbai, and Murugandi Thevar's father, Shanmug Sundaram, has been arrested for assisting in hiding the stolen gold in his house, as informed by the Police Commissioner.
In the press conference, DCs Siddharth Goyal, Ravishankar, and ACPs Dhanya Nayak, Manoj were present.
After the robbery, the accused Murugandi Thevar and Joshua Rajendran fled towards Kerala through Talapady Gate in a Fiat car, while the other four suspects left via Mangaluru Railway Station. Three of them traveled by auto, and one by bus. Murugandi and his team, who headed towards Mumbai, had planned to escape to Tamil Nadu from there. The plan was to sell the stolen gold in the black market in Mumbai after dividing it equally.
The police's priority was not only to arrest the suspects but also to recover the gold jewellery belonging to approximately 1600 customers that had been stored at the bank. As a result of the operation carried out by the teams, the jewellery was seized before the accused could sell it, Police Commissioner Anupam Agrawal added.
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Rishabh Pant's troubles continue as Punjab Kings push LSG towards exit door
Dharamsala, May 4 (PTI): Rishabh Pant lost the grip on his bat and the match simultaneously as Punjab Kings rode on heroics from the two 'Singhs' -- Prabhsimran and Arshdeep -- to literally push Lucknow Super Giants to the brink of elimination with a 37-run win in an IPL match here on Sunday.
It was Prabhsimran's 48-ball 91 that formed the cornerstone of Punjab Kings' unassailable 236 for 5 and any hopes of a remarkable chase was nipped in the bud by Arshdeep's (3/16 in 4 overs) now familiar Powerplay spell which summarily destroyed the opposition top-order.
This time, he got the three top run getters -- Mitchell Marsh (0), Aiden Markram (13) and the ever-dangerous Nicholas Pooran (6) -- to swing the match decisively in Punjab's favour. Ayush Badoni's (74 off 40 balls) effort was a good one albeit it came for a losing cause.
LSG were finally restricted to 199 for 7 in 20 overs and even if they win their last three games and get to 16 points from 14 games, their net run-rate can make things difficult for them.
Punjab Kings are now placed second with 15 points from 11 games and one more win could possibly clinch a place in top four for them.
But what is becoming an eyesore is LSG's Rs 27 crore worth skipper Pant's inexplicable approach which has fetched him a dismal 128 runs in 11 innings at a sub-100 strike-rate (99.22).
On the day, he scored 18 off 17 balls and that he is completely out of sync was evident in the manner he tried to throw the proverbial kitchen sink at an Azmatullah Omarzai delivery. There was no control in his shot as the bat took off on parabolic curve towards square leg and the ball went towards deep point.
Pant's misery was a testimony of LSG's wretched campaign that was lost at the auction table when the owner decided to go with a sub-standard bowling attack based on a half-fit talented pacer Mayank Yadav.
Mayank has already lost at least 10-15 yards of pace post rehabilitation under the watch of Nitin Patel at the National Cricket Academy.
On Sunday, he went for 60 runs off four overs with half a dozen of sixes struck off his bowling.
The pint-sized Prabhsimran packed a mean punch in his strokes as he blasted his way to a 48-ball 91 with the help of six fours and seven sixes.
The Punjab keeper-batter should have got his second IPL hundred but an ambitious switch hit off Digvesh Rathi saw him head back to the pavilion, nine runs short of what would have been a deserving milestone.
Towards the end, Shashank Singh scored 33 off 15 balls to take PBKS to what looked like an unassailable total. There were 16 sixes hit by Pujab Kings with 13 coming off pacers.
Prabhsimran was initially a passive partner as it was Australian Jos Inglis who launched the first attack with a hat-trick of sixes off Mayank Yadav, whose speed has decreased by at least 15 kmph post his intense rehab under Nitin Patel at the BCCI's erstwhile National Cricket Academy to recover from back injury.
However, once Inglis was dismissed, Prabhsimran, along with skipper Shreyas Iyer (45 off 25 balls), took control of the game. They were only helped by some atrocious fielding from Avesh Khan, who would probably go down as the worst fielder in the 18-year history of IPL.
Adding insult to injury, Prabhsimran took the tall MP fast bowler to the cleaners as he was pulled over mid-wicket for back-to-back maximums. Khan went for 57 in four overs and if around 15 runs due to his misfielding is added, he caused the maximum damage for his team.
The duo of Prabhsimran and Iyer added 78 runs in 7.5 overs before Rathi, LSG's best bowler on view, became the first spinner in the current season to account for Punjab Kings skipper's wicket.
But Prabhsimran continued like a man possessed and LSG bowlers were guilty of feeding to his strengths throughout the innings.
