Five men arrested for attempted arson & robbery at Maharashtra Gramin Bank in Vaijapur

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Five men were arrested for allegedly attempting to rob and torch the Maharashtra Gramin Bank branch in Vaijapur, which led to damage worth Rs 15 lakh, the police said on Monday. The accused reportedly carried out the act to avenge a previous bank fraud case involving one of the conspirators.
According to police, the incident took place in the early hours of April 20 when four unidentified men arrived at the bank in a car (MH-14-BX-7988). They broke open the bank's shutter and set the premises on fire, leading to an explosion that damaged ATM cards, chequebooks, DD books, loan files, cash vouchers, computers, UPS units, furniture, and important documents.
Vaijapur police registered an FIR and began the investigation under the supervision of SP (Rural) Dr Vinaykumar Rathod and additional SP Annapurna Singh. Inspector Satish Wagh, of the local crime branch (LCB), was tasked with investigating the case.
Assistant inspector Pawan Ingle and his team visited the crime scene and inspected the car used in the incident. During the search, they recovered multiple number plates, one of which (MH-04-DW-4511) led investigators to a car dealer in Malegaon, Nashik. However, the buyer details in the delivery challan were found to be fake.
Acting on technical inputs, police detained one Akshay Karale (28) of Karanjgaon, Vaijapur, on April 21. During interrogation, Karale confessed that the plan was hatched by Bharat Kadam, a resident of Virgaon, who held a grudge against the bank after being booked in a loan fraud case.
Karale revealed he, along with Kadam, Sachin Kere, Vaibhav (alias Gaju Kere), Dharba Birade, and Appa Bane, purchased the car for Rs 1.5 lakh from a Malegaon dealer using fake credentials. On April 20, the group executed the attack as planned.
Based on his statement, police arrested the accused identified as Akshay Karale, Bharat Kadam, Sachin Kere, Vaibhav, and Dharba Birade. Birade sustained burn injuries to his nose during the incident, while the sixth accused, Appa Bane, who is currently absconding, was also reportedly injured.
Investigations further revealed that Kadam has a prior FIR registered at Virgaon police station for using forged documents to fraudulently obtain a loan from the same bank.
Efforts are underway to nab the absconding accused, said SP Rathod.