Delhi Police have arrested a 34-year-old man, who had reportedly committed a burglary into a bank and stolen Rs 55 lakh. He has entered into the bank from an adjoining under-construction building in east Delhi’s Farsh Bazar area.

Police said that bank  officials unsuspectingly, tasked the same man to fix the hole in the wall inside the bank premises that he had himself drilled for committing the crime, police said.

The accused was wearing a helmet at the time of the burglary to hide his identity. Police also said another person was arrested who had received some amount of the stolen money.

The two accused men have been identified as Hariram and Kalicharan (39), both residents of Vishwas Nagar.

According to R Sathiyasundaram, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Shahdara district, on Monday around 10.15 AM, police received information regarding a burglary in a bank in Vishwas Nagar area.

“Police inspected the spot and found that a hole was made in a wall of the server room of the bank from the adjacent under-construction building. Another hole in the wall of a strong room in the basement was made and cash worth Rs 55,03,330 was stolen from the vault,” said the DCP.

“During investigation, various teams were formed for collecting information from frequent visitors, guards, contractual staff and any details of people who have entered in the locker room over the last six months,” said the DCP.

“After checking over 50 CCTVs, one camera installed near an ATM located to another under-construction building was found facing upward. It was noticed that the CCTV was tampered. The man's palm and some portions of his face were captured in the camera for a few microseconds,” said the DCP.

“While working on the lead, it was established that the camera was tampered with from the first floor of the building. Three prime suspects were apprehended by police who had their presence in the building at the time the direction of the CCTV was already pointed towards the entry point in the under-construction building,” said the DCP.

“Detailed analysis of CCTV footage revealed that the person was Hariram, who lives nearby in a nearby street, and was known by the caretakers of the building that had the CCTV footage,” said the DCP adding that Hariram was apprehended.

“During interrogation, he tried to mislead police by saying that a person gave him Rs 1,000 to divert the direction of the camera, but later confessed to his crime. Hariram told police that he was called into the bank for renovation work at the strong room six months ago. During renovation, he conducted a detailed recce of the place and gathered all the information about the cash and possible entry and exit routes,” said the DCP.

“He further revealed that he had planned for the money heist for the last three months, but could not take it up due to the lockdown.

Hariram got access to the under-construction building by removing the previous lock and replaced it with another similar one,” said the DCP.

“As soon as he got an opportunity, he entered inside the under-construction building, made small holes there and another one in the strong room. He further disclosed that he wanted to use the stolen money for gambling activities,” said the DCP.