The Great Bank Robbery clues: A razor blade, soil and thin air

Revealing that all his men recovered was “a single blade”, Rao added, “We couldn’t find the tools that they used. Also, it’s difficult to figure out how long they took, because it depends on the number of people involved.” The investigating team, he said, is now trying to trace the ownership of the deserted building.

However, it’s not just the police that is facing the heat, with PMO representative R N Ravi, who heads the Joint Intelligence Committee, reaching the spot and working with top officials from neighbouring states to nab the robbers. The bank officials too are facing the flak from the owners of the lockers who claimed that their losses together amount to “almost Rs 100 crores”.

The bottomline is police have registered two criminal cases: A case of burglary registered on a complaint from bank officials; another case registered against the bank officials by the owners of the lockers who alleged that the bank didn’t construct the locker room “as per norms of the currency chest”; did not install a “steel plate into the floor”; and that the “almirahs in the bank were also 60-70 years old”.

The officials have denied the allegations, stating that all guidelines were followed and the floor was at least 6-8 inches in depth.

But first, the PMO. According to Rao, the level of planning required to pull off such a robbery is the reason behind the PMO’s interest in the case. “There is a possibility of the operation being masterminded in a different state, one which can have national implications. This is not something that the average criminal can pull off,” Rao said.

As for the owners, bank officials said the lockers were leased to 268 individuals. “The bank had absolutely no security precautions,” said Rajesh Bhatia, who runs an online consultancy. “Bank locker rooms have a floor, reinforced additionally with concrete or steel. There was nothing of the sort here at Gohana. They didn’t have CCTV cameras.”

And then the police: Detailing the information collected so far, a senior officer said, “The soil that was dug out was collected in mounds in different rooms in the adjacent building. The tunnel initially goes downwards and then makes it way from under the bank and eventually comes out in the locker room.”

With no evidence to work on, police have roped in a team of labourers to scan the tunnel. Sources said that a series of planks had been installed by the robbers on the tunnel’s ceiling. “It seems that after digging for about 20 feet, there must have been some threat of the tunnel caving in. Planks were installed on the top half of the tunnel to prevent this,” said an officer.

Police believe that the robbers appear to have carefully recced the bank. “It seems they had complete blueprints of the bank,” an officer said. “It is not easy to maintain your sense of direction when you’re underground. In this case, there is only one exit and that’s in the locker room.”

The big question, of course, is: How did the robbers build a tunnel that is 125 feet long and 2.5 feet wide, without making any sound?

The watchman on duty on Sunday night, for instance, told police that he heard nothing. Raghu Lal, who runs a sweet shop opposite the abandoned building next to the bank, said he saw “no one entering or exiting the building” over the last month. On the other side of the bank, near the exterior wall of the locker room, is Sonu who sells cold drinks, tea and snacks – he too said, “I have not heard anything or seen anything at all”.