Armed men decamp with Rs5 crore in Thane

In one of the biggest armed dacoities in the state, seven masked men with guns barged into the office of a Thane-based cash management firm and decamped with Rs5 crore in cash.

According to Thane police, the men entered the office of Checkmate Cash Management Services Private Limited at Teen Hath Naka at around 3am. They first took the security guard as hostage and clipped wires of the CCTV cameras. They also managed to take away the camera's recording box along with the cellphones of the employees.

"The robbers had a thorough knowledge about the office and where the CCTV cameras were. This helped them in getting rid of the only security guard and pinning down the employees, before fleeing with the cash trunks," said an official from Wagle estate police station.

"We are investigating all the angles in the case but prima facie we suspect that its an insider's job. We will question the present and past employees, including the guards," said the official.

"A case has been registered under Section 395(dacoity), 397 (Robbery, or Dacoity with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 506 (2)(criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and under relevant sections of the Arms Act," said Sukhada Narkar, PRO, Thane police department.

Thane Commissioner of Police, Param Bir Singh visited the spot and met the complainant Sunil Rathod. He said: "The firm had not intimated the police about their business which had risks and the firm itself did not take adequate measures to protect their cash. We have formed teams to nab the dacoits and are investigating further on the available clues," said Singh.

The Thane police in their confirmation revealed Rs5 crore was missing, while the firm employees claimed that around Rs12 crore were missing.