Farmers lose out in gold heist

Many farmers in Andhra Pradesh have lost a significant amount of gold following a robbery.

Thieves broke into the Chaitanya Godavari Grameena Bank in Narsaraopet during the Christmas holiday season and stole almost 47 kilogrammes of gold ornaments and jewellery.

The gold formed part of loan security pledges provided by over 2,000 local farmers located in the villages of Dechavaram, Rupenguntla, Turakapalem and Narsaraopet. Staff discovered the theft when they opened the bank for businesses after the holiday season had ended.

So far, police have been questioning a number of staff and local residents as well as using sniffer dogs to help gather evidence and possibly identify the thieves as well as recovering the stolen gold.

Inspector General, Guntur Range, Satyanarayan, speaking to the Hindu, explained that the criminals entered the bank sometime between late Saturday evening and early Tuesday morning.