Bagdogra bank dacoity mastermind arrested

Police arrested the prime accused of the dacoity in Bagdogra branch of a nationalised bank from Sealdah station on Thursday night. Police said the accused Chitna Hasan Khan, alias Hasan Seikh was arrested when he was about to take a train from the south section of Sealdah Station. He was scheduled to go to the house of a friend in South 24-Parganas.

Acting on a tip off the police had conducted a raid at the station and arrested him. He was taken to Siliguri and remanded in the custody of the police when produced before the court.

It may be recalled that a gang of dacoits had raided the bank and decamped with a huge cash and jewellery after damaging all valuables in the wee hours on May 5.

A senior police officer said that it is a major breakthrough for them as he is suspected to have involvement with many other incidents of bank dacoity. “We will interrogate him to get details of other accused, who had assisted him to commit the crime. Preliminary investigation has revealed that Chitna had masterminded the crime and he had visited the bank to do a recce of the place quite a few times earlier,” the police officer said adding that they suspect that some of his associates stay in South 24-Parganas and he was going to meet them to hatch another plan of dacoity. The police have also trying to recover the stolen jewellery and cash.