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.
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"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.