Four held in connection with robbery at SBI bank in Karnataka's Vijaypura district
Vijayapura (PTI): Four people have been arrested in connection with robbery of cash and gold ornaments worth over Rs 21 crore at a SBI bank branch in this district last month, police said on Thursday.
Three of the accused -- Rakesh Kumar Sahani (22), Rajkumar Ramlal Paswan (21) and Rakshak Kumar (21), were arrested from Samastipur district of Bihar, they said.
The identity of the main suspect, who has been arrested from Maharashtra, has not been revealed by the police for investigation purposes.
Following investigation, police claimed to have so far recovered 9.01 kg gold and Rs 86.31 lakh in cash.
Based on technical analysis and credible information, the investigation revealed that the firearms supplied to the accused were procured from Bihar, police said.
"Acting on this, a police team travelled to Bihar and arrested the individuals who had supplied the illegal weapons and assisted in the crime," Vijaypura Superintendent of Police Laxman Nimbargi said.
"One accused from Maharashtra played a key role in planning the bank robbery. He had conducted reconnaissance visits to the bank multiple times and had stolen a car in Mangalwedha town in Solapur district to use in the crime. He was arrested on October 7 and produced before the court," he said.
From his possession, police seized 55 grams of gold bangles and one motorcycle used in the crime, he said.
Efforts are underway to nab two more suspects involved in the robbery, whose identities have been ascertained, police said, adding that they are working towards recovering the remaining gold and cash looted during the robbery.
According to police, on September 16, at around 7.20 pm, three masked men armed with country-made pistols and knives allegedly robbed the nationalised bank in Chadchan town of this district, making off with cash and gold ornaments, after tying up the staff.
In total, cash and gold ornaments worth over Rs 21 crore were stolen by the robbers as per the estimate of the bank authorities. They escaped with cash worth more than a crore and gold ornaments weighing approximately 20 kg, worth approximately Rs 20 crore, the FIR stated.
Based on the complaint of the bank manager, a case was registered in this regard, police said, adding that seven teams were formed to nab the suspects.
According to Nimbargi, investigations revealed that the car used by the accused to flee after committing the crime met with an accident at Hulajanti village in Solapur district, Maharashtra. When locals gathered at the spot, the driver brandished a pistol to threaten them and fled, abandoning the car there.
"Acting swiftly, the investigation team rushed to the spot and seized 21 packets containing 888.33 grams of gold jewellery and Rs 1,03,160 in cash from the vehicle," he said.
The officer said that during a cordon and search operation conducted for two days in and around Hulajanti village, police found that the accused had thrown a bag onto the terrace of an abandoned house. Upon inspection, the bag was found to contain 6.54 kg of gold ornaments and Rs 41.03 lakh in cash.
Police also recovered 1.587 kg of gold and Rs 44,25,060 in cash from 15 residents of Hulajanti who had taken the gold and cash from the vehicle.
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Ex-PM Devegowda warns opposition of electoral losses if they continue to allege 'vote chori'
New Delhi (PTI): Former Prime Minister H D Devegowda on Monday said the Opposition parties would "suffer" if they continue to raise allegations of "vote chori" and create suspicion in the minds of voters by blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government.
Participating in a discussion on election reforms in the Rajya Sabha, he criticised the Opposition for making a mockery about the Prime Minister "in the streets and on the public platform".
"This (India) is a very big country. A large country. Congress may be in three states. Remember my friends please, by using the words 'vote chori' you are going to suffer in the coming days. You are not going to win the battle," Devegowda said, referring to the Opposition members.
He asked what the Opposition is going to earn by "blaming Narendra Modi's leadership and creating a suspicion in the mind of the voters" through the claims of "vote chori".
"What has happened to their minds? Let them rectify," Devegowda said.
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The former prime minister said that during his over seven decades of public life, he has never raised such issues of vote theft despite facing defeat in elections.
He also cited a letter written by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru regarding inclusion of "18,000 votes" (voters) in Kerala.
"Why I am telling this (because) during the Nehru period also, there were certain lapses in the electoral system," said Devegowda, who was the prime minister between June 1, 1996 and April 21, 1997.
He said that the Congress party faced defeat in the recent Bihar elections despite raising the issues of mistakes in the electoral rolls.
"What happened after that even after so much review (of voters list). Think (for) yourself! You got six MLAs," the senior Janata Dal (Secular) leader said.
Devegowda questioned the Opposition as to why they want to make allegations against the prime minister on the issue of the voters list?
"Election Commission is there. Supreme Court is there. The Election Commission has given direction to all the state units to rectify all these things," he said.
Devegowda said people of the country have full confidence in Narendra Modi's government and it will come back to power after the next Lok Sabha elections as well.
K R Suresh Reddy, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) party's Rajya Sabha member from Telangana, said that electoral reforms are the backbone for a healthy democracy.
He said a large and diverse nation like Indi needs clean electoral rolls.
Asserting that strict re-verification should not become a mechanism for exclusion, Reddy said no eligible voter should lose their right to vote simply because accessing paperwork is difficult.
He said while the concern definitely is on the voters' exclusion, "we should also be equally concerned about the percentage of voting."
"What is happening in voting today? Once the election ends, the drama begins. The biggest challenge that the Indian democracy has been facing in spite of two major Constitutional amendments has been the anti-defection. Anti-defection is the name of the game today, especially in smaller states, especially where the legislatures are small in number," Reddy said.
The senior BRS leader suggested creation of a parliamentary committee "which would constantly look into the defection" and "ways and means to cutting that".
AIADMK's M Thambidurai raised the issues related to election campaigning.
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"Election campaigns are one of the important election processes. In that, political parties must be given the proper chance to campaign," he said and cited problems faced by his party in Tamil Nadu in this regard.
Thambidurai said political parties were facing hardships in Tamil Nadu to conduct public meetings and to express their views to the public.
YSRCP's Yerram Venkata Subba Reddy stressed on bringing electoral reforms at both the state and national levels.
He also suggested replacing Electronic Voting Machines with paper ballots in all future elections.
"EVM may be efficient but can't be trusted. Paper ballot may not be efficient but can be trusted. You need trust in democracy," Reddy added.
