Piplani robbery bid: Five suspects held in Rajasthan

Bhopal: Five additional suspects, who made an attempt to rob a Piplani-based financial services company specializing in gold loans, have been apprehended by a joint team of the Crime Branch and Piplani police in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan on Monday. The authorities seized three locally-made firearms and counterfeit Aadhaar cards from the arrested individuals. Earlier, one suspect had already been arrested in connection with the same case. The police have asserted that the plot to steal gold from the company was devised by two hardened criminals currently incarcerated in jails in West Bengal and Bihar.According to the police, the suspects had planned to carry out a robbery at a private finance company in Jhunjhunu, but the police intervened and apprehended them before they could execute their plan.The detained individuals have been identified as Shivam Kumar, aged 35, a resident of Alipur in Vaishali, Bihar; Premraj Yadav, aged 23, a resident of Vaishali, Bihar; Shivshek Ranjan, aged 24, a resident of Bhuj Shankarpur, Bihar; Vipin Kumar, aged 25, a resident of Mubarakpur, Bihar; and Nitiraj, also known as Prince, aged 27, a resident of Vaishali, Bihar.The scheme was masterminded by three individuals, including Subodh Singh, a resident of Hajipur in Patna, who is currently imprisoned in Bihur Jail, Patna; Sunny Singh, a resident of Hajipur in Patna, who is also incarcerated in Bihur Jail; and Niyantak, a resident of Hajipur in Patna, presently held in a jail in West Bengal. They exploit impressionable young individuals who are newly imprisoned, brainwashing them and involving them in their criminal activities. They specifically target financially vulnerable youths and form teams to carry out their illicit acts. TNN