Bank heists solved, 5 robbers killed in pre-dawn encounter

CHENNAI: Five people, four from Bihar and one from West Bengal, who were involved in the two bank heists at Perungudi and Keelkattalai, were shot dead in a Pre-dawn encounter with the police, at Velachery area in the city in the wee hours of today. This was the fi rst major encounter in Tamil Nadu in which fi ve people were killed. Addressing a crowded press conference about 12 hours after the encounter which took place around 0130 hrs, Chennai City Police Commissioner J K Tripathy said police were forced to open fi re in selfdefence and to protect the lives of innocent people in the thickly populated area as the gang fi red indiscriminately at the police party. In the resultant encounter, two policemen were injured and all the fi ve gang members killed. The deceased were identifi ed as Vinod Kumar, Vinay Prasad, Abhay Kumar, and Harish Kumar from Bihar and Chandri Khare from West Bengal. He said Voter Identity Cards of the accused besides a driving licence, seven pistols and two revolvers with some magazines and ammunition, a bag containing Rs 14 lakh cash, cell phones and SIM cards were seized from the spot. Mr Tripathy said it was clearly established that these gang members were involved in the two bank robberies in the city. In the fi rst heist, a fourmember gang robbed Rs 20 lakh from the Perungudi Branch of Bank of Baroda on January 23 and in the second instance, a fi ve-member gang looted Rs 14 Lakh from Keelkattalai Branch of IOB on February 20, both at gun point. ‘’We have shown the photographs of the gang members to the bank staff and the witnesses and they have established that these persons were involved in the bank robberies,’ Mr Tripathy said, adding, ‘’we are sure that these people were involved in both the bank robberies.’ The gang members, who had taken the house on a monthly rent of Rs 5,000 in December by paying an advance of Rs 20,000, were planning to vacate the house and leave the city today. Among those killed was the person whose photograph from CCTV footage was released by the police yesterday for his involvement in the bank robberies. Mr Tripathy said ‘’we have examined more than 400 hours of CCTV footages taken from various banks before zeroing in on the accused whose photos were released yesterday.’’ Based on a complaint from Deputy Commissioner of Police (Adyar) Sudhakar, who led the team, a FIR was registered and a probe by the Judicial Magistrate ordered into the encounter. ‘’As per the rules, the FIR was sent to the Magistrate for a detailed inquiry. Further probe into it would also be conducted by the State Crime Branch-CID Police on the orders of the State DGP,’ Mr Tripathy said. He said Police Inspectors Ravi and Christian Jayasil, suffered bullet wounds to the left bicep and the left upper waist when police returned fi re in self-defence in a bid to the save the lives of innocent public. The injured policemen and gang members were taken to Government Royapettah Hospital (GRH). While the policemen were admitted for treatment, the gang members were declared dead at GRH and their bodies were taken to Government General Hospital for post mortem. Mr Tripathy repeatedly said that police team had gone there only to verify the information received by them and not with the intention of any encounter. Giving a blow-by-blow account of the encounter, Mr Tripathy said acting on information from a man from the neighbourhood that the person, whose photograph was released by the police yesterday, was staying in a ground fl oor apartment along with four others, a 14-member team headed by Mr Sudhakar went to the spot to verify the information at around 0100 hrs. ‘When the police knocked at the doors of the apartment at Vandikaran Street in Velachery Area, the gang members resisted by opening fi re,’ he said. As the curious onlookers started rushing out of the house on hearing the gun shots, the police warned the gang to stop fi ring and asked them to surrender. ‘’After the police knocked at the doors, they resisted from inside and started attacking through the windows. ‘Since it is a highly congested and thickly populated area, we cautioned them to stop fi ring as it might cause injury or death of innocent people and asked them to surrender,’ the commissioner said. Mr Tripathy repeatedly said that police team had gone there only to verify the information received by them and not with the intention of any encounter. Giving a blow-by-blow account of the encounter, Mr Tripathy said acting on information from a man from the neighborhood that the person, whose photograph was released by the police yesterday, was staying in a ground fl oor apartment along with four others, a 14-member team headed by Sudhakar went to the spot to verify the information at around 0100 hrs. ‘When the police knocked at the doors of the apartment at Vandikaran Street in Velachery Area, the gang members resisted by opening fi re,’ he said. As the curious onlookers started rushing out of the house on hearing the gun shots, the police warned the gang to stop fi ring and asked them to surrender. ‘’After the police knocked at the doors, they resisted from inside and started attacking through the windows. ‘Since it is a highly congested and thickly populated area, we cautioned them to stop fi ring as it might cause injury or death of innocent people and asked them to surrender,’ the commissioner said. Despite repeated warnings, the gang members did not stop and continued their indiscriminate fi ring resulting in injuries to Police Inspectors Ravi and Christian Jayasil. In an act of self-defence and to save the lives of innocent public, police broke the door and entered the house and were forced to return the fi re, killing the gang members, he added. Denying the police had stated that one of the gang members was a former engineering student of the SRM University, the commissioner said the identity of the deceased was being confi rmed based on the address in the seized voter ID cards. ‘’Further investigation to ascertain their background, whether they are involved in any other such robberies in Tamil Nadu or other states and whether there were more accomplices is on,’ he added.