Singrauli bank heist: Jail raids in Odisha, Bihar expose fresh links as hunt for key accused intensifies

Bhopal: In a major breakthrough in the April 17 Bank of Maharashtra heist in Singrauli, police raided Kuchinda sub-jail in Odisha’s Sambalpur district and Beur jail in Patna, Bihar on Tuesday, uncovering fresh links to the interstate robbery in which robbers looted cash worth Rs 22 lakh and gold valued at over Rs 5 crore.

The raids followed interrogation of two recently arrested accused from Bihar -- Chandan alias Chaiya Yadav (21) and Gulshan (19) -- who are on seven-day police remand and revealed they had delivered cash and materials from the main accused to a gang member lodged in Kuchinda jail.

Acting on the inputs, Singrauli police with local officials’ help searched Kuchinda jail early morning and recovered Rs 25,896 cash from inmate Piyush Jaiswal’s bedding, along with a small mobile phone and documents from the barrack. A separate team raided Beur jail where alleged kingpin Subodh Singh is lodged and seized conspiracy-linked documents.

Singrauli SP Manish Khatri said the accused took cash and materials from main accused to Kuchinda sub-jail in Sambalpur and handed them to a lodged dacoit. “Police raided the jail with local help, seizing over Rs 25,000 cash, a small mobile and evidence. Another team raided Beur jail in Patna and seized evidence. Main accused so far is Fantoosh; teams are pursuing him. This is an interstate gang and Subodh Singh at Beur jail has past involvement in such cases,” he said.

Investigators suspect the robbery was planned through a prison-outside network handling logistics, communication and gold disposal. With key accused Fantoosh absconding, police are conducting raids across states to unravel the conspiracy and recover the remaining loot.
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