AI image
The police said the gang made off with Rs 4.19 lakh in cash and gold ornaments weighing around 562.5 sovereigns.
Vinu of Alakkode in Mezhuveli was the alleged mastermind, according to police. The police said around four kg of the stolen gold and a substantial portion of the stolen cash were recovered during the investigation. The other accused were Suresh Kumar, Sudheesh, Gireesh, Kishore, Biju Ramakrishnan and Manoj alias Manu — all residents of Pathanamthitta. Deputy director of prosecution Renjeem Ismail represented the prosecution, assisted by SCPO Anuraj.
Kottayam : Pathanamthitta chief judicial magistrate court on Thursday sentenced five persons in connection with the 2011 Mezhuveli Service Cooperative Bank robbery case in which cash and gold worth around Rs 1 crore were stolen. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 7.1 lakh each on them. Another accused was sentenced to one-and-a-half years of rigorous imprisonment and was fined Rs 10,000 for buying the stolen goods.
Four persons who were directly involved in the crime were sentenced to two years and seven months of rigorous imprisonment. Among them, Vinu, Suresh Kumar, Sudheesh and Gireesh were convicted while Ramakrishnan was convicted for buying the stolen goods. The third accused in the case is still absconding. The court acquitted Kishore and Manoj for lack of evidence. The case was investigated initially by then Pandalam circle inspector R Jayaraj, who is now additional SP of Pathanamthitta. The probe was later completed, and the charge sheet was filed by current DSP Nandakumar , who succeeded him as circle inspector. Anildas, then Adoor DSP, supervised the investigation. A special investigation team comprising Aji Samuel, Prasannan Pillai, Santhosh and Vinod was credited with the arrests.