Interstate gang member held for SBI bank burglary in Andhra Pradesh

Sri Satya Sai (Andhra Pradesh), Sep 7 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh police have arrested an interstate gang member allegedly involved in a bank heist in Sri Satya Sai district, an official said on Sunday.

Burglars struck at the SBI bank branch without a guard in Thumukunta village in Sri Sathya Sai district on July 26.

"We arrested an interstate gang member in the Thumukunta SBI branch burglary where 10 kg gold and Rs 38 lakh in cash were stolen," said the police official.

District Superintendent of Police (SP) V Ratna said the accused, Anil Kumar Panwar, from Haryana, was taken into custody by special police teams formed from Anantapur, Chittoor, and Tirupati districts.

"We recovered two kilograms of gold ornaments valued at Rs 2 crore along with a Honda City car and a motorcycle used in the robbery," Ratna told PTI.

According to police, the gang member had more than 14 cases registered against him across several states and had previously served a five-year sentence in Coimbatore Sub Jail in Tamil Nadu before being released in June.

The accused was allegedly part of an interstate gang of habitual offenders, which carried out several robberies across states. Another gang member from Rajasthan is absconding, the SP added. PTI MS STH KH