Seppa: The East Kameng police have successfully solved the State Bank of India (SBI) ATM armed robbery case that took place on February 15 last.
The accused, Taguk Rang (32), has been arrested and over Rs 20 lakh cash, a vehicle, revolver, and two-wheeler used in the commission of the offence have been recovered.
According to the case details provided by East Kameng SP Rahul Gupta, an FIR was received from the SBI cash officer on February 15, stating that a suitcase containing cash was snatched after firing of two rounds during the process of ATM replenishment by a bank team at Type 1, Seppa town.
The robber had targeted the accompanying staff but fortunately, no one was hurt. The miscreant was wearing a bluish jacket and a black helmet and had parked his two-wheeler close to the ATM.
Following this incident, a case under Section 392/307 of the IPC read with Section 27 of the Arms Act was registered at the Seppa police station. Three teams of 24 police personnel, headed by a Seppa DySP Matin Ratan, worked day and night to solve the case. Witnesses were examined, CCTV footage was analyzed, and other technical methods were employed to identify and apprehend the culprit.
“The accused is a contingency worker in the rural works department. He had earlier worked as a contractor, which led to his financial loss and a lot of debts. The accused had no prior criminal record and was in dire need of money to repay his debts and resorted to this heinous crime. He had been planning the robbery for over a year and had done a recce of the SBI bank for around six months,” the SP said.
Prior to this robbery, Taguk had done recce of ATMs at Zero point and Bank Tinali in Itanagar but did not execute the steal due to the presence of many CCTV cameras around that area.
The accused used a revolver that he had purchased in December 2022 through his uncle’s gun license to carry out the crime. He also applied black cello tape over the number plates to hide the vehicle numbers from the CCTV. On the day of the robbery, he parked his two-wheeler approximately 50 meters away from the ATM and snatched the cash suitcase after firing two rounds. He then fled the scene on his scooter, the SP said.
During the investigation, the police team led by SI Shakti Lamgu, recovered over Rs 20 lakh in cash, a revolver, a two-wheeler, an Alto car, a mobile phone, and other items that the accused had purchased from the robbed money.
The police team that cracked the case also consisted of inspectors Tumki Loya, S Don and S Nabam, sub-inspectors Anonto Baruah and F Lingfa, assistant sub-inspector S D Sharma, head constable M Yangda, constables Tage Tath, Rohit Meto, Jowwang Wangsa, Sankio Tajo, Nabam Ama, S Yangfo, S Taniang, M Doka, Vikas Gyadi, Tagi Gyadi, D Sengdo, T Blange, D Hakhun, Gyamar Ropu, D S Kalita, I Kartek, Pura Rabin and lady constable M Thikak.
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