NIA probes link between bank robbery and Burdwan blast

Hyderabad: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is probing the link between Burdwan blast and a bank robbery in Telangana's Karimnagar district, police sources said on Thursday.

As per reports, the NIA officials visited Choppadandi village of the Karimnagar district, where four armed men looted Rs.46 lakh from State Bank of India (SBI) in Feb this year.

The investigating agency collected Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) footage and other details from the local police.

The NIA is trying to find out if the gang involved in the bank robbery has any links with Oct 2 bomb blast at Khagragarh area of the Burdwan district of West Bengal.

Two suspected members of Bangaldesh's Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen died in the blast that occurred in a house.

The investigating agency probing the blast reportedly recovered from the house currency notes carrying the tags of SBI Choppadandi branch.

The police in Karimnagar district suspect that four members of banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), who escaped from Khandwa Jail in Madhya Pradesh, are involved in the bank robbery on Feb 1. The four SIMI members were among seven undertrials who broke the jail in October last year after two stabbing two security guards. They also snatched rifles and wireless sets before the escape.

The CCTV footage at the bank in Choppadandi shows four men entering the bank and looting the cash at gun point. Police suspect they are members of Abu Faisal gang which escaped from Khandwa Jail. No arrests have been made in the case so far.