Mumbai, Nov 2 (PTI) A suspended police officer and his accomplices allegedly robbed a bank in Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district, looting 27 kg of gold and Rs 12.5 lakh cash before alert locals thwarted their escape, police said on Monday.
A gang of armed robbers entered the State Bank of India’s Bhokar branch on Saturday afternoon and held the staff at gunpoint and fled on two-wheelers with five bags containing gold jewellery and cash, an official from Dharangaon police station said.
Bank employees triggered the emergency alarm, prompting local youths from nearby villages to pursue the suspects on motorcycles and block their escape route with a tractor trolley, he said.
While villagers managed to pin down a suspect after a scuffle, others fled into
nearby fields, and three were apprehended, the official said.
Locals managed to nab Shankar Ramesh Jasak (42), a police officer who had been suspended from service in 2023. Investigators revealed that Jasak orchestrated the heist with the help of a relative who worked as a cleaner at the bank.
“We have recovered the entire stolen property, including 27 kg of gold and 12.5 lakh in cash. The other arrested accused have been identified as Gajanan Rajendra Pawar (32), Ankush Tulshiram Chavan, and Ankush Shravan Chavan,” inspector Umakant Gaikwad from Dharangaon police station said.
A case has been registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), and police teams have been deployed to trace and arrest the remaining suspects involved in the heist, he added. PTI ZA ARU
