RPFcop’squick action led to arrestofSingraulibank heist accused

times news networkBhopal/Jabalpur:Some presence of mind bytwo Railway Protection Force constables — and a stroke of luck — cracked open the high-profileSingraulibank heist case, leading to the arrest of a key accused from a train in Bihar.On April 17,five armedmen stormed a Bank of Maharashtra branch inSingrauli, firing a shot in the air and fleeing within 15 minutes with around Rs 22 lakh in cash and gold worthnearly Rs5.5 crore.The breakthrough came the next day aboard the 13349SingrauliExpress. Constables Umakant and Mohammad Nazar, deployed fromGarhwastation in Jharkhand, noticed a youth behaving suspiciouslyinthe general coach. Sitting near a window with a bag he was reluctant to show, the man's evasive replies raised red flags — initially linked topossible liquorsmuggling, a common concern on Bihar-bound trains.Trusting their instinct, the constables alerted seniors and kept the suspect engaged. Acting on the tip-off, an RPF team intercepted the train atDehri-on-Sone station and detained the youth, later identified as Kamlesh Kumar, 20, a resident of Nalanda district in Bihar. Another suspect travellinginthe same coach managed to slip away unnoticed."The constables on board informed us. Weasked them to keep the suspect engaged as we prepared tonabhim atDehri-on-Sone railway station. When the train stopped, we caught him. He first informed us that he works in Pune aslabourerand since his mother isill,he took Rs 5 lakh from his contractor as loan and was going home. We tookthe numberof his father anddialledhim.It turned out that he was lying," RPFinchargeatDehri-on-Sone railway station, of ECR,RamvilasRam, told TOI.The twist came when local police were contacted. "We were not aware of the robbery till then. One more suspect was withKamlesh,but he was sitting at some distance andslippedaway. On being questioned,hesaidthat they had boarded the train fromGarhwaand hadpurchasedan iPhone worth Rs 83,000there;the phone remained withtheother suspect. A total of Rs 15.22 lakh and around 61 gramsof goldwasrecovered fromhim," he added."He has been taken into police custodyand we are quizzing him. Meanwhile,teams aregatheringfacts. Their route is also being verified. We are hopeful of arresting all the accused soon,"SingrauliSPManish Khatrisaid.