Police work on leads in gold heist case

Bangalore, Aug 12 (UNI) City police have cast a dragnet in many places in the state and alerted their counterparts in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Mumbai to trace the four suspects involved in the sensational heist of 36 kg of gold and Rs three lakh in cash from a noted jewellery chain store in the city yesterday.

Police Commissioner Neelam Achyuta Rao said six teams had been formed to nab the four culprits involved in the heist.

''We held a meeting with top level police officials today and police in Mangalore City has been put on high alert. ''We are also in close touch with the police of the neighbouring states,'' he said.

The robbers' images were caught on the CCTV installed in the spot. They were later released to the media.

The sketches of the outlaws had been shown to the inmates of Central Jail at Parappana Agrahara on the outskirts of the city in a bid to identify them, he said.

''According to our information, the dacoits were speaking in Hindi and Bengali. We are working on the leads we have at present. We are confident of nabbing the culprits,'' Mr Rao said.

In the daring heist, the well dressed robbers entered the large outlet, threatened the employees before locking them in a room in the shop and took away almost all the gold that was kept in the shop and the cash in an operation lasting 30 minutes.

A security man of the neighbouring building had told the police that he saw four people rushing away in a 'cement coloured' car at 1115 hrs last morning.

UNI