Rajasthan man who robbed more than 20 banks arrested by Gurugram Police

Gurugram, Oct 27: A 35-year-old man, who robbed more than 20 banks across eight states over the last decade, has been arrested by police.

Gajraj Kumar, the identified suspect of Karoli village in Rajasthan, was wanted by the police departments of Haryana and Tamil Nadu for the past two years.

According to police, Gajraj joined his friend's gang who allegedly used to steal valuables from lockers of banks and courier offices in Rajasthan. He allegedly joined the gang after he lost a huge amount of money in gambling and was unable to pay back his debt.

Preet Pal Sangwan, assistant commissioner of police (crime), said, in early 2008, Gajraj allegedly met a criminal in his village who helped him to pay off his debt. Together, they formed a gang to rob a local Gramin Bank. "He had lost nearly Rs 80,000 in a month and had taken a loan from family and friends to gamble," Sangwan said, adding that he had also started betting on cricket matches and mostly lost.

Based on a tip-off, Kumar was arrested from Jaipur on Sunday. According to the police, he had returned from Madhya Pradesh after allegedly robbing a bank last week. The police said Kumar, and three of his aides, had robbed the bank of gold and Rs 10 lakh cash, which are yet to be recovered.

"He first thought to target a bank which was close to his village. He allegedly broke the bank wall but could not succeed in entering the strong room. After spending four hours inside, he returned empty-handed," said Sangwan recounting Kumar's confession.

"He was arrested for the first time in 2011 for an attempted robbery in Rajasthan, later by Himachal Pradesh Police and was lodged in Una Jail for nearly a year," Sangwan said.
Kumar was taken on a six-day police remand on Monday and was sent to 14-day judicial custody.