Navi Mumbai heist: Thieves tunnel into bank's locker room, loot 30 lockers

In what is obviously a very 'striking' modus operandi, thieves robbed a Bank of Baroda branch in Juinagar, Navi Mumbai after tunnelling 25 feet underground into its locker room. The accused had even rented a shop adjoining the bank where they ran a general store.

The crooks looted 30 lockers after tunneling through the floor of the locker room at the Juinagar branch of Bank of Baroda

According to the police, the incident took place at the Bank of Baroda branch in front of Juinagar railway station. "The accused dug up an underground tunnel of 25 feet to the locker room of the bank and broke open 30 lockers. The valuation of the looted property is yet to be done as we are taking the statement of the locker owners," said Hemant Nagrale, Commissioner of Police, Navi Mumbai. Many locker owners fear the bank lockers were too unsafe now.

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Sources from the Navi Mumbai police said the accused had rented a shop adjoining the bank. "The robbery took place between Saturday and Sunday as the bank had a holiday. When the bank manager arrived on Monday he found that the lockers were broken into. He then informed us," said a senior official from Sanpada police station.

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Kiran Patil, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Vashi said, "The accused had taken a shop adjoining the bank on rent, where they ran a general store from May. We have gathered a lot of evidence from the bank including the CCTV footage."

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A case has been registered at Sanpada police station under Sections 454 (lurking house trespass), 457 (lurking house trespass at night) and 380 (theft in dwelling) of the Indian Penal Code.

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