Two button-sized GPS trackers kept in the packaging of pawned gold as a precautionary measure by Muthoot Finance’s Hosur branch led to the arrest of men carrying the gold in a container truck.
Sources in the Muthoot Finance said that the branch staff had kept the SIM card connected GPS trackers in two of the packages, and even though the dacoits had carried a signal jamming device, they did not check whether it was working and it turned out that it was not.
This omission on their part, in a hurry to flee with the booty worth ₹ 7.5 crore, served the Telangana police favourably.
“Taking a cue from previous incidents, we keep GPS trackers in a few packets when there is a lot of gold in the chest, and this came in handy for the investigators with whom we shared the links of the tracking devices,” an official told The Hindu. “Fortunately, we were able to connect to the GPS links and track the gold, after the five accused travelling in an SUV were caught near Tondupally toll plaza,” an officer associated with the investigation of the case said. The gang members were aware of the trackers as they attempted to rob a Muthoot branch in Ludhiana of Punjab.
Stating that the dacoits have used ‘outstanding technology’ to commit the offence, he said the inter-State armed gang did not use SIM cards for calls.
“Instead they purchased a wireless internet router of a leading telecom company and communicated through ‘untraceable’ internet calls,” the officer said on condition of anonymity. The dacoits hid the gold and firearms in a secret cavity behind the driver’s seat of the container lorry and it was hard to find, he said.
