Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Gold heist mastermind misled interrogators

HYDERABAD: Naval Singh, the alleged mastermind behind the robbery of Rs. 1.10 crore worth gold at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, was present when the robbery was committed but feigned ignorance about the offenders when the police questioned him.

Along with his associates - Ram Kumar and Vimal Mehra - he was arrested in Agra by the Cyberabad police on Wednesday. Singh was working as a driver for the Marudhar courier company which used to send and receive gold consignments. Since he was familiar with the transactions and knew about the timing of the arrival of consignments, he planned and managed to execute the robbery with clock-work precision. He and six other staff members of the courier company drove to the airport on September 7 in a Santro and a Maruti van.

The gold consignment was brought outside from the airport cargo office in the Santro. Singh was in the driver’s seat of the Maruti van.

“The plan was to shift two of the four boxes containing gold into the van to be driven by Singh,” a police officer said. As per Singh’s plan, Kumar and Mehra turned up when the other staff members were about to shift the boxes, scared them away by showing them weapons and drove away the Santro. As doubts over the possible involvement of courier company employees were raised, police grilled all the seven persons, including Singh, but he did not spill the beans and misled them.

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