Bullets and screams in 46-second bank loot in Madhya Pradesh; 2 women among 3 hurt

INDORE: In a brazen daylight attack, robbers stormed into a Gramin Bank in MP's Neemuch, guns blazing, and looted Rs 71,000 in cash. Two women customers and a bank guard were hit by bullets and are in hospital.
The gunmen were in and out in 46 seconds. They are yet to be identified.
The bank is in Chitakheda village, around 250km from Indore and right next to the Rajasthan border.
Neemuch SP Ankit Jaiswal said that the gunmen, their faces covered, arrived at 12.40pm on a motorcycle. They entered the bank and started firing almost immediately, sparking panic among the bank staff and customers.
CCTV footage shows the gunmen loading one bullet after another into single-shot 'kattas', and firing at people -- to hit and not just to scare. The first victim was 21-year-old Jumma Bai, 21, shot while she sat on a bench, posing no threat to the robbers. The bullet pierced her thigh. Next, Mangibai, an anganwadi worker from a nearby village, was hit. CCTV footage shows one of the gunmen shoot her at point-blank range when she ran into him in her desperate dash for safety.
Banshilal bravely grappled with one of the gunmen but was hit and collapsed on the floor. As panic-stricken bank employees and customers ran for cover, the duo grabbed the cash box and fled.
The gunshots had struck panic on the road as well. No one dared challenge the gunmen as they sped off.
Police were on the scene within minutes. The injured women and guard were taken to the district hospital, where their condition is stable. Banshilal has a head wound. According to eyewitness Ram Prahlad, the husband of one of the injured women, the robbers entered the bank casually and suddenly began firing.
MP cops pose as surveyors to nab robbers disguised as women in Raj
Set 'imposters' to catch a gang of imposters. Policemen from Madhya Pradesh went disguised as govt surveyors to a village in Rajasthan to nab a band of brothers who dressed up as women to loot gold ornaments from the famed Hanuman Tekri temple in Guna.
It took 23 days of detective work, scanning footage from 500 CCTV cameras and some ingenuity to crack the blind cross-border crime. A jeweller, who melted the ornaments stolen by the gang, is also in custody.
On the night of Aug 23-24, around a dozen men, disguised in sarees, held the two temple guards at knifepoint, broke into the temple and made off with the idol's jewellery and cash from the donation box. CCTV footage shows the gang leader praying before the deity before taking off the ornaments, mace and crown.
The robbery shocked the region as lakhs of devotees visit the temple, around 200km from Bhopal and close to the Rajasthan border. IG Arvind Saxena set up an SIT to probe the case. The SIT, led by SP Sanjeev Kumar Sinha, included two DSPs, two TIs, SIs, constables, and a three-member cyber team.
The first challenge was to identify the gang. The first break came after 14 days of dogged investigation. A six-second CCTV clip turned out to be extremely crucial. Six men were seen on two bikes in Cheem village, around 40km from the temple and closer to the border. Although the faces and vehicle numbers were obscured, the men in the footage matched the robbers' description.
Using other CCTV footage and some guesswork to fill the gaps, police tracked the gang and crossed the border to Rajasthan's Kamkheda, a town known for its Balaji temple, around 100km from Hanuman Tekri but the gang had taken a longer route to try to throw police off their trail.
Despite difficulties due to switched-off CCTV cameras, MP police managed to obtain information about the gang's presence in the area.
Two police constables, Navdeep Agarwal and Rajiv Shukla, were sent undercover as economic surveyors. They played their part well, aroused no suspicion and managed to get details on the robbers, including their house.
A police team raided the house but the main suspects weren't there. The cops found evidence linking the family to the crime, including part of the booty, raincoats and sarees used for the disguise. A woman named Shanti Bai said her seven sons and their families had left on the night of the temple robbery. Police found some stolen silver jewellery buried in a pit behind the house.
The police team took Shanti Bai along and went looking for the robbers. They began driving towards Chittorgarh when they saw a family taking shelter under a tree. Shanti Bai indicated with a nod that they were her sons and their family members. The gang also realized their game was up and fled but police managed to nab two of them - including ringleader Babulal Kalbeliya, 42. After their interrogation, jeweller Mohit Soni who had melted 2kg silver ornaments and turned them into bricks was also arrested. The search is on for the five other suspects. Police have learnt that the gang had conducted a recce a fortnight before the robbery.
A reward of Rs 30,000, announced by the IG for information on the robbers, will now be given to the SIT.