Banker Tried To Steal Rs 34 Crore From His Department, Caught 3 Months Later

The principle accused had fled with Rs 12 crore. (Representational)

Mumbai:

Deliberate over practically one yr, reportedly with liberal inspiration from the globally hit Netflix present ‘Cash Heist’, a financial institution theft close to Mumbai has thrown up particulars no much less intriguing than a binge-watch-worthy internet collection.

The within job has been solved with the arrest of 5 individuals and the restoration of Rs 12 crore from them, the police mentioned this week. They’d earlier discovered Rs 22 crore on the ICICI Financial institution department in Thane throughout their probe into the heist in July this yr.

Altaf Shaikh, 43, the primary accused within the case, has been arrested and Rs 9 crore was discovered from him, the police mentioned. He used to work as a custodian of the vaults on the financial institution and had plotted the flowery heist. His sister, recognized as Neelofer, has additionally been arrested, they mentioned.

“Shaikh, a resident of Mumbra, had been working with ICICI Financial institution as a custodian. Because the custodian, he was the caretaker of the financial institution’s locker keys. He spent a yr planning the heist, learning the loopholes within the system, and gathering instruments to drag it off,” a police officer on the Manpada Police Station mentioned.

In the course of the probe, police discovered that Shaikh deliberate the whole heist by widening the AC duct to sneak out the money into the rubbish chute and tampering with the CCTV footage, he added.

“After deactivating the alarm system and sabotaging the CCTV, Shaikh had opened the financial institution vault and transferred the money to the duct and under to the chute. The incident got here to gentle after the financial institution realised that the safety cash was lacking, as had been the DVR of CCTVs, which prompted its personnel to name the inspection workforce,” the official mentioned.

With technicians informing authorities that the footage was saved on-line as nicely and realising his plan was falling aside, Shaikh fled the scene with round Rs 12 crore. The remaining Rs 22 crore was found below a tarp on the financial institution.

He spent the subsequent three months on the run, altering his appears to be like and utilizing a burqa to cover his id. Shaikh’s sister Neelofer, who was conscious of his motion, hid some money in her residence. She has been charged as co-accused within the case and arrested, the police mentioned. Shaikh was lastly arrested from Pune on Monday.