Davangere police recover stolen 17 kg of gold accessories hidden in a deep well in Madurai

Mangalore Today News Network

Davangere, April 1, 2025: The Karnataka police have busted a six-member gang of robbers and recovered 17.7 kg of stolen gold, officials said on Monday.

The gold was stolen from the Nyamati branch of the State Bank of India in Davangere on October 28, 2024.

Police said the stolen locker with gold ornaments was recovered from a well in Usalampatti town of Madurai district in neighbouring Tamil Nadu.

The accused have been identified as Vijaykumar, 30, his brother Ajaykumar, 28, Abhisheka, 23, Chandru, 23, Manjunath, 32, and Paramananda, 30, police said.

During the investigation, police busted another gang of bank robbers from Kakrala in the Budaun district of Uttar Pradesh who executed several bank heists in south India.

"Vijaykumar and Ajaykumar are brothers while Paramanda is the husband of their sister. All three are originally from Tamil Nadu but have had a sweets business in Nyamati for many years. The other three accused, Abhisheka, Chandru and Manjunath are from Nyamati," police said in a statement.

Initially, police concluded the involvement of the Kakrala gang in the robbery.

"There are about five to six gangs of bank offenders in Kakrala and neighbouring towns who have been committing bank thefts and robberies across the country, especially in south India for the past decade, including the gold theft from the SBI branch at Rayaparathy, Warangal in November 2024," police said.

The modus operandi of the Kakrala gang had striking similarities with the Nyamati bank theft as it usually targeted banks surrounded by large fields.

Further, the entry through the window, usage of gas cutters, decamping with the DVR and completely avoiding usage of mobile phones were all part of their mode of operation.

From November 2024 to February 2024, the investigation teams conducted several operations in difficult terrains across various states across India mainly Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh to apprehend these gang members, police said.

Based on inputs from these operations, the team was successful in apprehending five members of the Kakrala gang earlier this month, they added.

They were Guddu Kalia, Aslam, Hazarath Ali, Kamruddin and Babu Sahan.

The Kakrala gang members were absconding in several property offence cases in Karnataka between 2014 and 2024, notable ones being the 15 kg gold heist from Karnataka Grameen Bank, Hosahalli Branch in November 2022 and the 4 kg gold heist from Karnataka Grameen Bank, Bevuru Branch, police said.

This was the first time these offenders had been arrested by Karnataka Police and interrogation with these offenders led to the fresh detection of various property offences that had happened in recent times in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu