Manappuram heist: Movie, Tamil Nadu theft inspired accused

Bengaluru: The six men who committed dacoity in Manappuram gold loan firm in Jnanabharathi were inspired by Tamil movies and by reading a crime story published in a Tamil newspaper about the robbery in Manappuram firm in Tamil Nadu.

The police arrested A. Dhanashekhar (30), Mohan (28), Ramakumar alias Slum (23), Vinod Kumar (23), all residents of slum board residential complex in Choodasandra Cross, Suresh (28), of Cottonpet, and VST Suresh  (29), of VST Colony, in connection with the heist in the gold loan company on October 16. Another accused in the case is absconding and the police are on the lookout for him. Suresh was an accused in a murder case registered in Magadi Road police station in 2006.

The police have recovered 13 kg gold worth Rs 4 crore, Rs 1.50 lakh cash and four bikes used to commit the offence. The investigation revealed that the accused were addicted to many vices and had debts running into several lakhs. To come out of the debt trap and to lead a lavish life, they allegedly committed the dacoity.

“All the accused are childhood friends. In September, there was a robbery in Manappuram Finance in Dindigal in Tamil Nadu, where gold valuables worth Rs 16 crore were robbed. They saw the report in a Tamil newspaper and were inspired by it. Also, they had watched the movie, Sigaram Thodu, which has a plot of bank robberies. Inspired by the movie and the recent robbery in Dindigal, they hatched a plot to commit the dacoity,” the police said.

The accused allegedly did a recce of the gold finance company a day in advance. On the day of the incident, they purchased rider masks from National Market and weapons in the same locality in the morning. Later, they went to a bar on Ullala Main Road, where all the seven accused consumed alcohol. Around 4 pm, they reached the gold finance company, the police said.

“Dhanashekhar, Mohan, VST Suresh and Paramshivam, who is absconding, barged into the firm, tied the employees with a rope and robbed 15.8 kg of gold jewellery and Rs 2 lakh cash. The other three accused were waiting on bikes outside the firm keeping the ignition on. Soon after the robbery, they escaped on bikes in different directions. As per the plan, they all met at Dhanashekhar’s house late in the night and shared the booty equally,” the police said.

The police had formed several special teams to crack the case and the teams collected information that some men were spending money lavishly and were also trying to sell some gold too. Based on the tipoff and also after tracking the mobile phones, the police zeroed in on the accused and picked them up for questioning. They confessed to the crime during the interrogation.

Guard, security cams must in finance firms: Top cop

City Police Commissioner N.S. Megharikh said that the police have directed all financial companies to compulsorily deploy security guards and HD CCTV cameras in their premises. “We would initiate action against officials of companies that do not adhere to the safety measures. We have directed all financial companies to follow the instructions without fail from Monday. The local inspectors have been directed to verify the safety measure taken in financial firms in their limits,” he said.

Accused gifted gold chains to their girlfriends

Accused VST Suresh and Dhanashekhar reportedly gifted the stolen gold chains to their girlfriends. They had made their girlfriends believe that they had purchased the chains for them, the police said. City Police Commissioner N.S. Megharikh has announced a cash reward of Rs 2 lakh for the policemen, who cracked the case.