Kathmandu, November 27:

The armed group which looted Rs 21,188,000 in cash from the Bank of Kathmandu, Kamaladi, on Sunday, said that they had earlier tried twice to execute their plan of looting the bank.

“Aiming to loot the bank, we had reached the bank last Wednesday, but returned without the plan being executed as there were many people inside the bank and on its premises,” Pashupati Baral, one of the seven arrested on charge of being involved in the looting, said. According to him, they also reached the bank a second time on Sunday afternoon and again returned without attempting to loot because of “being insecure.”

“After we returned without trying on Sunday afternoon, we sat at Ganesthan, Kamaladi, and made the final plan,” Baral added. They, however, claimed that they didn’t have any sophisticated arms.

The idea to break down the set-up of the Closed-Circuit Television in the bank was floated by the then security guard of the bank, Mohan Ghatani, who was arrested immediately with Rs 20,000 from the bank premises. Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Police Range, Kathmandu, yesterday sent a police team headed by Inspector Sitaram Rijal to eastern Nepal to nab the absconding culprits.

“We have sent police to eastern region acting on the tip-off of the arrested,” a police official said.

Police, so far, have held seven persons, including the bank’s two security, and recovered cash Rs 23, 41,800 from those arrested.