Mumbai: Four acquitted in 2009 Dombivli bank heist case after 16-year trial

In a significant ruling, a court in Thane has acquitted four men accused of involvement in a bank heist that took place in Dombivli 16 years ago, citing lack of conclusive evidence against them. According to PTI, the court observed that the prosecution had failed to establish their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

A copy of the court’s order, issued on March 24, was made available on Tuesday.

The case dates back to 13 November 2009, when three unidentified men entered the Union Bank of India branch on Manpada Road, brandishing weapons and threatening the bank staff. The robbers managed to flee with Rs 5,88,700 in cash. As per PTI, they also forced a woman employee to surrender her gold ring and mobile phone before making their escape.

Following the incident, the police launched an investigation and registered a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). Soon after, four individuals, Sunil Bajirao Atangale (53), Sham Balasaheb Thombre (47), Kiran Bhalchandra Borase, and Manik Shamrao Wagh (47) were arrested. All four were residents of the Kalyan-Dombivli area.

However, after nearly 16 years of legal proceedings, the court ruled in their favour, highlighting inconsistencies in witness testimonies. Defence lawyers Sagar Kolhe, Nitin Bhune, and Amol Joshi, who represented the accused, argued that there was no concrete evidence linking their clients to the crime. According to PTI reports, the defence contended that the prosecution’s case was built on circumstantial evidence, which was insufficient to establish guilt under the law.

Special MCOCA Judge A N Sirsikar, while delivering the verdict, noted discrepancies in the statements of prosecution witnesses and concluded that the evidence presented did not conclusively prove the accused’s involvement in the crime. Consequently, all four accused were acquitted, receiving the benefit of the doubt.

While the 2009 case resulted in an acquittal due to lack of evidence, another bank heist in Thane, which occurred in 2022, took a different turn, with the prime accused arrested after months of evading authorities.

According to PTI reports, the police apprehended 43-year-old Altaf Shaikh, the main accused in a Rs 12 crore cash theft from ICICI Bank in Thane’s Manpada area. Shaikh was arrested in Pune after more than two and a half months of pursuit. Law enforcement officials have so far recovered approximately Rs 9 crore of the stolen amount.

Shaikh, a resident of Mumbra, was a custodian at ICICI Bank and had access to the locker keys. Investigators revealed that he meticulously planned the heist over a year, identifying loopholes in the security system and collecting tools to execute the theft. On 12 July 2022, he deactivated the bank’s alarm system, sabotaged CCTV footage, and used an enlarged air conditioning duct to pass the stolen cash down a garbage chute, PTI reports.

The theft came to light when bank personnel discovered missing security funds and realised that the CCTV digital video recorder (DVR) had also been stolen. Shaikh immediately went into hiding, frequently changing his appearance and even using a burqa to evade arrest.

Authorities later arrested his sister, Neelofer, after discovering that she had concealed some of the stolen money in her home. She was booked as a co-accused in the case.

(With inputs from PTI)