According to a spokesperson, the accused, who had taken a godown situated behind the Manappuram office in Singalpur village in Shalimar Bagh area on rent, were caught red-handed while they were digging a manhole in the wall connecting the godown and the Manappuram office bathroom.
The accused have been identified as Panchu Ram Mandal, Pheku Basak, Mohijur, all three of whom are residents of Sahibganj district in Jharkhand, and Nirjan Joshi, a resident of Kanchanpur district in Nepal.
According to the North West district Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Vijyanta Arya, specific inputs were received at around 2:30 p.m. on Sunday regarding some suspicious people who had recently moved into the area.
"Acting on the information, a police team was dispatched to the spot. There, the police team saw one person standing outside a godown in a suspicious manner. On seeing the police, he tried to flee but was nabbed by the police personnel. He was identified as Nirjan Joshi," Arya said .
On entering the godown, the police team found two persons digging a manhole inside the wall and a person standing nearby with a spade. All three were apprehended by the team who were identified as Mandal, Basak and Mohijur.
"During cursory checking, police also recovered one loaded country-made pistol and other house breaking equipment, including gas cutter and gas cylinder from the accused," Arya said.
The arrested have been booked under the relevant Sections of the Indian Penal Code, the police said.
During interrogation, the accused revealed that they hatched a conspiracy with one Kamaruddintheir known to them, who had full the details regarding the Manappuram Gold office layout. They also told the police that Kamaruddin was quite familiar with the neighbourhood area of the office.
"They had rented a godown which was situated behind the Manappuram office and were residing at Singalpur village on rent for the last 10 days," Arya said.
( With inputs from IANS )