In a daring pre-dawn armed robbery, a seven-member gang of masked men barged into a cash handling company at Thane and decamped with cash of Rs 5 crore.
In an incident that sent shock waves through Mumbai’s satellite city of Thane, the armed gangsters – some wearing monkey caps and others covering their face with kerchiefs – entered the cash handling company located at Teen Hath Naka around 3 am.
The gangsters threatened the three security personnel and a few staffers present at the point of revolver and knife, switched off the CCTV cameras and recorder and walked away with cash and mobiles belonging to the company staffers.
Police said that the company, which was looted, handles cash for the bank ATMs, malls and jewellers. The company collects the same and keeps the money at its office. The money looted was collected cash. The company has had its office at Thane’s Teen Hath Naka for the past one year.
Initial reports had pegged the looted cash at Rs 12 crore. Thane Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh, who had rushed to the scene immediately after the incident came to light, said in the afternoon. He said, the looted money could be anywhere from Rs 7 to 8 crore and that the exact amount would be specified after a panchnama of the scene of robbery.
later in the evening when both the company officials and investigators verified the records, the Thane police said that the looted amount was Rs 3 crore.
Meanwhile, the Thane police chief handed over the investigations to the Crime Branch of the Thane City Police.
Quoting the staffers present inside the looted company, the police said that the gangsters – some of whom were in half pants and banians or shirts -- spoke Hindi and Marathi. Seven of them were carrying knives, revolver, and chopper with them.
Having registered an FIR and, the Thane Police have registered an offence against unknown persons under sections 390, 391, 392, 395 297 (all relating to robbery and dacoity), 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement) 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code and Sections 3, 25 and 27 of Arms Act.
The Thane Police chief said that the investigators had landed for workable leads to the crime and he was expecting an early breakthrough in the case.
"Though this office has been in existence for the past one year, the company had not informed the local police about its cash operations. In addition, the security arrangements in and around the company’s office were poor. That is a different issue. We are currently working on the case and we will crack the case as early as possible," Singh said.
Meanwhile, a massive manhunt has been launched across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) to track down the gangsters behind the robbery.