Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam

Bank robbery: city police obtain clues

VISAKHAPATNAM: The city police have obtained some definite clues to crack the recent SBI (Visalakshinagar) robbery case. A gang from Bihar, which had committed two other robberies in recent past, was believed to be involved in this case.

“We have zeroed in on nine names of suspects involved in the crime. While five of them went into the bank, the others could have waited outside,” Police Commissioner N. Sambasiva Rao told The Hindu in an interview.

“Seven of the gang members had also committed a robbery at the SBI Dharmasala branch in Bihar on April 4 and again at Bhubaneswar on April 26. The gang leader, however, was missing in these two robberies. Three parties were deputed to various places including Orissa and Bihar.”

Based on preliminary information gathered by the first two teams, a third team was sent which obtained concrete evidence in the case. He said that 90 per cent of the clues pointed to the nine accused, and exuded confidence of a breakthrough in the case very soon. He, however, declined to divulge more information in the case as it could hamper the investigation process.

Referring to the cracker blast case in which a building collapsed resulting in the death of eight persons at Nandagiri Nagar recently, Mr. Sambasiva Rao said the police had started examining all premises where there were complaints of manufacture of fire crackers without licence. He warned that punishment for those who manufactured crackers or dealt with explosive materials without proper licence could be imprisonment up to 10 years or it could even extend to life imprisonment depending on the gravity of the case.

A mini van carrying cracker material, without licence, was seized at Pendurthy on Tuesday. A list of the premises dealing with cracker materials and explosives was prepared. The police were physically verifying the premises.

The Police Commissioner expressed disgust at some heavy vehicle and car drivers moving at a very slow speed on the right lane forcing others to overtake them from the left and again join the right lane ahead of them. This problem was seen more on the National Highway (NH-5), passing through the city. “This is not only a violation of the basic road rule but can also result in accidents,” he said.

He admitted that even police vehicle drivers were indulging in slow driving on the fast lane and added that memos were being issued to all police drivers warning them of strict action in this regard.

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