Man who dug tunnel held after a year

NAVIMUMBAI:THE Vasai police on Monday arrested a 30-year-old involved in the bank heist at Sanpada in November last year.

The Navi Mumbai police will soon take the arrested accused, Sanjay Kamble, into custody. Kamble is a resident of Agarwadi, Vasai and has a criminal record.

In 2017, the Sanpada branch of Bank of Baroda was looted by a gang of criminals by digging a 30-foot tunnel from a nearby shop between November 10 and 12. The heist was discovered on November 13 (Monday), when the bank opened after the weekend.

The gang looted 27 lockers and stole cash and jewellery worth ₹3.43 crore. The police arrested as many as 11 culprits, including one of the main conspirators, Hazid Ali Mirja Baig, 47, within a few weeks. Four others accused, including Kamble were at large.

Prakash Birajdar, inspector of

Waliv police station, Vasai, said, “Kamble does not stay at his resident. On Monday we received a tip off that he was visiting his residence. Our teams immediately reached there and arrested him.”

“Kamble was involved in a number of burglaries registered in our area. We were aware that he was also involved in the bank heist at Navi Mumbai,” Birajdar said.

According to the police, in the bank heist, Kamble was mainly involved in digging the tunnel and transportation of stolen goods.

Suraj Padvi, senior inspector of Sanpada police station said, “It is not yet clear where Kamble was for one year. We will interrogate him after taking him into custody.”

Three other culprits involved in the robbery are still absconding. One of them is the mastermind, Deepak Mishra. “We are on the lookout for the other accused,” said a police officer.