Man Who Snatched Rs 40 Lakh From Kerala Bank Staff, Taken Into Custody

A man, who was on the run for the past two days after snatching Rs 40 lakh from the bank staff, was taken into custody from near here by a team of Kerala Police on Friday.

The accused was identified as Shibin Lal.

Even though Lal is in police custody, the money has not been recovered yet.

The incident took place on Wednesday, when Lal asked the local branch of ESAF bank that he wished to re-pawn his gold jewellery, held at a local cooperative bank here.

According to the bank rules, they provide loans on the collateral security of gold and also take over gold loans held at other financial institutions.

Lal thus convinced the ESAF bank staff to take over his gold pledged at a private financial institution in Kozhikode itself.

As per the ESAF rules, when their officials carry cash to give to other banks, for every Rs 10 lakh, there should be two of their staff members who accompany it.

Likewise, eight ESAF bank officials with Rs 40 lakh arrived at the private financial institution.

Lal said just two officials needed to come into the office, and when they were walking towards it, in a flash, he snatched the bag containing the money and drove away on his two-wheeler.

Soon, the police arrived, and the search began for Lal.

A day later, the two-wheeler Lal used for the crime, a rented one, was found abandoned.

On Thursday, the local police called in all the ESAF bank officials who had gone with the money and took statements from them.

After picking up Lal, the police have started questioning him, and they are expecting that they will be able to recover the money that was stolen.

Later in the day, the police are expected to produce Lal before a local court.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)