From Surat to Odisha, how Bihar link surfaces in major bank heists across India
From a Rs 52 lakh SBI robbery in Surat traced to Patna’s Beur Jail to gold and bank heists in Odisha, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, Bihar Police say organised interstate gangs are increasingly behind major robberies across India, prompting the state STF to set up a dedicated Bank and Jewellery Loot Cell
“The growing cases of bank robbery in Bihar and other states suggested a major shift in the crime profiles to two major kinds—heists and cybercrime. Since local bank robbery gangs have been facing intense heat and state action, they have now integrated into inter-state gangs,” he told The Indian Express.
The Muzaffarpur link in the Surat State Bank of India robbery has exposed a growing pattern of bank heists involving criminals from Bihar, posing a new law-and-order challenge for the state.
Last week, the Gujarat Police traced a brazen bank heist of Rs 52 lakh in Surat to Patna’s Beur Jail, where Muzaffarpur native Kundan Bhagat has been lodged since last November on allegations ranging from extortion to gun running, with operations stretching from Nagaland to Gujarat.
But this is not an isolated case: the Bihar Police claim to have detected over half a dozen bank and gold heists with a Bihar link, suggesting a shift from “traditional” or localised crimes to more organised heists. The cases have also prompted the state police to set up a dedicated Bank and Jewellery Loot Cell under the Special Task Force (STF), which Director General (Special Branch) Kundan Krishnan says has “enough expertise not just to solve cases reported from within the state, but also from outside”.
“The growing cases of bank robbery in Bihar and other states suggested a major shift in the crime profiles to two major kinds—heists and cybercrime. Since local bank robbery gangs have been facing intense heat and state action, they have now integrated into inter-state gangs,” he told The Indian Express.
Consider this: On December 28, 2025, a robbery involving 8.304 kg of gold jewellery by five unidentified criminals at the Sky Gold and Jewellery shop in Karnataka’s Mysuru district led to the arrest of Raja Sahani, an escaped undertrial prisoner from Lohianagar under the Nagar Police Station in Begusarai, and Rishikesh Singh alias Patthal Singh from Kharari in Darbhanga. Further investigation led police to suspect the involvement of Pullu Singh, or Rajiv Kumar Singh, a Bihar-based gangster with links to organised robbery and jewellery heist networks across states.
On January 19, 2026, a heist of 7.53 kg of gold and Rs 4.38 lakh cash from a Bank of Maharashtra branch in Odisha’s Keonjhar district led the Odisha Police to suspect a Bihar link and approach the state STF. Of the four arrests made, three were from Bihar: Santosh Paswan from Bhagwanpur in Vaishali, Roshan Kumar alias Laddu Patel from Karpi in Arwal, and Naveen Kumar from Chandmari Road in Patna.
On April 17, 2026, a heist of Rs 70 lakh worth of gold jewellery and Rs 14 lakh cash from a Bank of Maharashtra branch in Madhya Pradesh’s Singrauli district led to the arrest of at least four people from Bihar — Kamlesh Kumar, Phantush Kumar, Chandan Kumar and Gulshan Kumar — and the busting of an interstate gang.
Bihar’s own crime numbers also point to the trend: data shows the state reported 955 dacoity cases in 2025 and 1,392 cases by April 2026. Major incidents include the Rs 25 crore robbery at the Tanishq showroom in Ara in March 2025, the Rs 4.65 crore loot at a Bank of Maharashtra branch in Samastipur in May 2025, and the Rs 2.25 crore heist at Darbhanga’s Bada Bazar in April 2026, with probes in these cases still ongoing.
“Besides these cases, the Bihar STF has helped crack bank heist cases in Anakapalle, Andhra Pradesh, and in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand, all reported this year,” Director General (Special Branch) Kundan Krishnan said.
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