Police nab Pune gold-heist robbers

Pune, April 19 (IANS) The Pune Crime Branch nabbed two persons in connection with the loot of around 18 kg of gold and cash from a gold finance company's branch in the city, police said here Thursday.

As much as 17.5 kg of gold ornaments and cash over Rs.6 lakh were looted from Manappuram Gold Finance Ltd Wednesday. The police suspected it to be an insider job as duplicate keys were used to break into the office.

'Acting on a tip-off, we chased the assistant manager of the company Somnath Waghapure and nabbed him from a village in Pune district. His aide, Tejas Bhonsale was also nabbed, while two accomplices are still absconding,' Assistant Police Inspector Dattaram Bagwe of Pune Crime Branch told IANS.

'The gold has been valued for Rs.3.14 crore. The manager suspects that the robbery took place between 7:30 p.m. Tuesday after he closed the office and 10 a.m. Wednesday when he opened the office,' he added.

Police have also seized the entire booty of 17.5 kg gold ornaments from Waghapure. 'However, we could recover cash only to the amount of Rs.2.9 lakh,' Bagwe said.

The two accused arrested will be produced in court Friday and police custody will be sought for further questioning. Those absconding have been identified as Nitin Gaikwad and Babloo Ambekar.