Daring heist in Haryana, thieves dig 125-ft tunnel to loot bank

October 28, 2014

Chandigarh, Oct 28: In a Bollywood-style heist, thieves dug up a 125-feet-long tunnel to a nationalised a bank in Sonepat district and broke into 77 lockers decamping with cash, jewellery and other valuables.

Daring heistThough police and bank officials were yet to give an estimate of valuables stolen from the Gohana branch of Punjab National Bank, 200 kms from here, it is expected that the stolen cash and jewellery would be worth crores.

The incident came to light yesterday morning when the bank was opened after a holiday by its manager Devender Malik, police said. They suspect the robbery was carried out on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday.

The tunnel to the bank which was dug up from a nearby unoccupied house was nearly 125-feet-long and 2.5 feet wide, police said, adding that a special investigation team has been set up to probe the robbery.

The robbers, who carried out the heist similar to those shown in Bollywood's popular 'Dhoom' franchise, randomly targeted the lockers which they could easily break.

Police have registered a case under relevant sections of the IPC in connection with the incident, but so far have not managed to achieve any breakthrough.

According to Sonepat's Superintendent of Police Arun Nehra, the thieves cleaned up 77 of a total 350 lockers at the bank, which is located in residential-cum-commercial area of Gohana town.

He blamed the bank authorities for not following proper norms mandatory for the storage place where lockers are kept.

"The job of the thieves was made easy as the floor of the locker room was an ordinary cement floor commonly seen in houses and it was easily punctured by the robbers.

"As per the norms, it should have been built up of a thick RCC and steel plates and other reinforcements should have been there which would have made it difficult or impossible for the miscreants to break-in," Nehra said.

He further said that it appears that the thieves also faced little difficulty in opening the lockers using ordinary iron tools.

Refuting the charges, bank manager Malik said, "We have followed the RBI guidelines. The floor was eight to nine inches in depth. Even the walls were built of solid concrete."

Malik said it appears the robbery was carried out after meticulous planning by the robbers which may have streched over several days.

"Gohana branch of the PNB was one of the oldest bank branch having nearly 35,000 account holders... We are having saving deposits of about Rs 125 crore," he told PTI over phone from Gohana.

Malik said as far as having CCTV cameras inside the locker room was concerned, no electronic surveillance is maintained inside such places.

The bank manager said the building where the tunnel opens had been lying unoccupied for past 4-5 years.

On being contacted, Chandigarh-based General Manager of Punjab National Bank B M Padha refused to comment on police claim that norms were not followed in having strong reinforcements inside the locker room.

"I am visiting the area today. I don't have full facts and figures as of now. I will be able to speak on this after getting full details," he said.

Meanwhile, Gohana DSP Rajiv Deswal said the thieves had tampered with 89 lockers, but managed to clean up 77 of them.

Asked how much cash and jewellery and other items would have been stolen in the incident, Deswal said, "it is difficult to arrive to an estimate since whatever the locker holders keep in the lockers is secret. Only the locker holder knows what is inside".

"Still, we are trying to verify things and let's see if we can have a rough estimate. We have registered a case and are hoping to nab the robbers, who still remain unidentified, soon," he added.

The bank officials have asked the clients whose lockers were broken open to provide details of their contents.

Distraught over losing their valuables, several locker holders of the bank sat on a dharna in Gohana today alleging lapses on part of PNB which led to the heist.

A middle aged man, whose locker is among those cleaned up by the robbers, told reporters that he had kept some valuables as he was to marry off his daughter soon. He said he was now a shattered man since he had lost all his "precious items".

When asked if the bank had any liability towards compensating the locker holders whose storage compartments had been broken into, Malik said, "as per the RBI guidelines there is no such liability. Whatever is kept inside locker only the holder knows, there is no record for this with the bank".

With large number of account holders protesting outside the bank today, police personnel in strength had been deployed to help maintain law and order.

Senior police officials including the concerned IG had rushed to the spot as investigations into the robbery incident were underway.

Bank lockers are small boxes kept in a room that is guarded heavily and has solid iron doors or concrete walls around it. For opening these, a pair of keys are needed, with one key being with the bank and the other with the customer.

Lockers are used to store valuables over a period of time for which the banks charge rent from the holders, who need to have a savings account in the bank.

Both keys have to be used together to open the locker, a bank official said.

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Agencies
June 7,2020

Lucknow, Jun 7: From Anamika Shukla to Anamika Singh and finally Priya. The primary school teacher who was found to be teaching simultaneously in 25 schools, not only has multiple jobs but also multiple identities.

Anamika was arrested on Saturday from Kasganj district when she went to submit her resignation after she was served a show cause notice by the Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA), Anjali Agarwal.

Agarwal informed the police and Anamika was arrested.

According to the Kasganj BSA, Anamika Shukla, originally a resident of Kaimganj in Farukhabad is currently doing her B.Ed from the Raghukul Degree College in Gonda. Her other documents are also from the same college.

During interrogation, Anamika Shukla said that she was actually Anamika Singh but as questioning proceeded, it turned out that she was Priya from Farrukhabad.

She has been booked for cheating and forgery under IPC sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will etc.) and 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating).

According to the police, the woman claimed that she had paid Rs five lakh to a Mainpuri-based man to get this job.

She used Anamika Shukla's credentials to get the job while her real name is Priya, daughter of Mahipal, a resident of the Lakhanpur village of the Kayamganj police circle in Farrukhabad district.

Soron station house officer (SHO) Ripudaman Singh said, "During interrogation, the accused initially claimed to be Anamika Singh, daughter of Subhas Singh. However, her documents are in the name of Anamika Shukla, daughter of Subhas Chandra Shukla."

The accused claimed that she paid the hefty amount to Raj, a Mainpuri-based man for the job and was posted in Faridpur Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) since August 2018.

The police are now trying to zero in on the man who got her the job.

The police also believe that it could be possible that multiple candidates used credentials and 'eligibility' of Anamika Shukla - the real one still remains elusive.

According to the Uttar Pradesh government, five more Anamika Shuklas have been found working in KGBVs in Ambedkar Nagar, Baghpat, Aligarh, Saharanpur and Prayagraj districts. She has reportedly drawn a combined salary of Rs one crore in the past one year.

Teachers in KGBV, a residential setup for girls from weaker sections of the society, are appointed on contract and are paid approximately Rs 30,000 per month. Each block in a district has one Kasturba Gandhi school.

Basic Education Minister Satish Dwivedi said that the incident was 'shocking' and the police would unravel the entire racket in the case. "No officer, employee who connived with this teacher in providing her job at KGBV and subsequently hiding it, will be spared," he said.

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News Network
July 20,2020

Kozhikode, Jul 20: A 17-year old boy died of head injuries while trying to protect his mother from being assaulted by his drunk father here, police said on Sunday.

The youngster suffered the fatal injury after his head hit against the door when his father shoved him at their home on Saturday. Venu, had come home in an inebriated state and picked up a quarrel with his wife and started beating her up, they said.

On seeing this, Alan tried to intervene. Though the boy was rushed to the hospital, his life could not be saved, they added. Venu was arrested and a case has been registered.

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Agencies
January 14,2020

Farukkhabad, Jan 14: In a shocking incident, a new-born baby was mauled to death by a dog inside the operation theatre (OT) of a private hospital in Farukkhabad on Monday.

Family members of the baby boy said that they noticed the hospital staff shooing a dog away from inside the operation theatre and soon after, they were told the baby boy, born just two hours ago, was dead.

The family members said that they found the baby's body on the floor and it had deep gashes around the neck and other parts of the body.

District magistrate Manvendra Singh has ordered an FIR and the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Chandra Shekhar said the hospital has been sealed and an inquiry ordered into the incident.

Sources said that the hospital where the incident took place was unregistered and was being run adjacent to a government hospital.

According to the FIR lodged with Sadar Kotwali police, the infant's father Ravi Kumar said he had admitted his wife Kanchan in the hospital on Monday and she was taken for a C-section to the operation theatre.

After the delivery, Kanchan was shifted to the ward but the family was told that the baby would be shifted later.

An hour later, the family was informed that the baby had died.

The family members then saw the hospital staff trying to chase a dog out of the operation theatre.

The family members forced their way into the operation theatre and found the infant lying on the floor with several injuries on the neck.

The police said that the baby's body has been preserved for examination and post mortem.

The FIR has been registered against Dr Mohit Gupta, and some of the staff members who were present during the delivery.

The hospital owner, Vijay Patel, however, feigned complete ignorance about the incident and said that he had been told that the baby was born dead.

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