Man, 21, spent Rs 40,000, saved working as a waiter, on gun; roped in cousin, 19, and practised shooting in village; planned robbery after watching several YouTube videos; slipper he left behind leads police dog to their hideout
CCTV camera footage shows Dharmendra Yadav (in white shirt) pointing the pistol at the victim
Mumbai police arrested the two men who robbed a Dahisar branch of State Bank of India and shot dead an employee on Wednesday with the help of a slipper, which one of the robbers left behind while fleeing. Dharmendra Yadav, 21, planned the robbery seven months ago to pay off his father’s debt and watched several YouTube videos for the successful execution, said police. He roped in his cousin and they practised shooting in their native village in UP.
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During the inquiry, police found out that Dharmendra wanted money fast to pay off his father’s debt of Rs 4.5 lakh. His father had taken out the loan several years ago for farming in their native village in Bhadohi district of Uttar Pradesh, an officer said.
Seeing his father, who is now an autorickshaw driver, depressed and tensed over his loan repayment, Dharmendra planned to rob a bank. He went to Bihar seven months ago and bought a pistol for Rs 40,000, police said. He had saved the money through his catering jobs over the years. He roped in his cousin Vikas Yadav, 19, and they started practicing shooting in their village.
The Dahisar branch of SBI
Dharmendra told police that he watched several videos on YouTube to learn how to rob a bank successfully, and learnt that it was important to intimidate people and create panic. They also got gloves and face covers. The 21-year-old said that he did not intend to shoot or kill anyone, and that he didn’t even know Sandesh Gomane, the victim. After shooting at Gomane, Dharmendra told the bank staff to take him to the hospital, police told mid-day.
Vikas arrived in Mumbai 11 days ago, both of them did a recce of more than a dozen banks in Dahisar East and Dahisar West. Dharmendra had completed his SSC from SVP school in Dahisar and was working as a waiter in the catering business. The duo does not have any prior criminal record. When the duo fled the spot on foot, one of the accused left his slipper inside the bank. Since the CCTV recordings of the area were not clear, police decided to call the dog squad. “With the help of the dog squad, we could follow the scent of the slipper to the house of the accused.”
The dog had stopped outside the accused’s house, as he was not getting any clue ahead. So the police asked around and a 10-year-old girl told them that she had seen two men running to the top floor of the building. Dharmendra was sleeping when the police broke into his house, and Vikas was caught from the neighbouring area, said an officer.
Sandesh Gomane, the victim
Under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Vishal Thakur and officers from both zones, we traced the duo and caught them within eight hours of the incident, said Additional Commissioner of North Mumbai suburbs Pravin Padwal. Police have recovered the weapon and recovered the robbed amount. The accused have been sent to police custody.
Padwal said talks are underway with senior officials of various banks to ensure no such incidents happen again. Instructions have been issued to immediately deploy guards in the banks, he said, adding that Wednesday’s incident could have been avoided if a security guard was present at the bank. Gomane, 25, the youngest of the three brothers lived in Manvelpada Kargil Nagar, Virar. He had joined the branch nine months ago and was working as a bank boy. His post-mortem was conducted at JJ Hospital on Thursday.
Rs 2.5L
Amount that the two robbers took from the bank after shooting a staffer
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