Warangal bank heist: 19 kg gold ornaments stolen, robbers flee with digital video recorder

The bank heist, considered biggest in recent times in Telangana, prompted the police to deploy multiple teams

The major robbery in the State Bank of India (SBI)’s branch at Rayaparthy in Warangal district on Monday midnight (November 18, 2024) left the police baffled as the robbers looted 19-kg gold ornaments, worth around ₹13.61 crore, from the strongroom, and fled with the digital video recorder, in a bid not to leave any trace.

The bank heist, considered biggest in recent times in Telangana, prompted the police to deploy multiple teams to scour CCTV footage from the areas surrounding the bank’s branch abutting the Warangal-Khammam highway and trace the robbers.

Police said the robbers used gas cutters to enter into the bank’s branch and made away with the gold ornaments kept in the strongroom. Their modus operandi was similar to that of a bank robbery reported at Bussapur village in Mendora mandal of Nizamabad district in 2022, pointing to the involvement of an organised inter-State gang of robbers in the heist.

The stolen gold jewellery belongs to gold loan borrowers who pledged the ornaments as collateral, sources said.

The borrowers need not worry as there is insurance cover against theft, said a police official, quoting the bank officials.

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Published - November 20, 2024 12:51 pm IST