A farmer’s presence of mind helped the rural police nab three members of an inter-state gang who were planning a heist at a cooperative bank in Ranjangaon Sandas, at Shirur, about 70 km from here, in the early hours on Saturday.
The farmer, Gangadhar Shitole, found two oxygen cylinders, gas cutters and iron rods in his farm on Friday night. Shitole grew suspicious and contacted inspector Ashok Kshirsagar, who examined the equipment and confirmed that they are used for cutting shutters and locks. Police also noticed that the branch of the cooperative bank was very close to the place where the equipment was found. “We suspected that the robbers may have hidden the equipment in the farm so that they could rob the bank in the night,” Kshirsagar said.
A trap was laid. “In the early hours on Saturday, a car stopped near Shitole’s farm to collect the equipment. We nabbed three persons, but the fourth one escaped. The three suspects are Pramod Ambadas Umak (36) of Amravati, Kishor Suradkar (28) of Aurangabad and Vishal Kshirsagar (19) of Ahmednagar. The gang head, Suresh Kashinath Umak, managed to escape,” said inspector Kshirsagar.
Police launched a hunt to trace Umak on Saturday, but could not find him. “The gang was involved in several bank robberies in the state, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh,” Kshirsagar said.
Additional superintendent of police (Pune rural) Ravindrasingh Pardeshi said they are verifying the crime record of the gang members. “The suspects targeted banks that have poor security. We expect to detect more cases,” said Pardeshi.
Courtesy: TOI
