Surat, May 7 : The Surat Crime Branch has arrested two men from Uttar Pradesh in connection with the Rs 50 lakh armed robbery at a State Bank of India (SBI) branch in the Varachha area, police said on Wednesday.

Officials further added that the offence was executed by an interstate gang allegedly directed by a Bihar-based mastermind operating from jail.

The robbery took place on April 27 at around 1 p.m. at the SBI branch on L.H. Road.

Police said five or more men, aged between 25 and 30, entered the bank posing as customers and remained inside for some time before pulling out weapons such as pistols, threatening staff and customers, and holding them hostage.

According to investigators, the accused assaulted those present, beat them with cables and threatened to kill them.

They looted Rs 12 lakh from the cash counter and an additional Rs 38 lakh that had been delivered earlier to the branch, taking the total amount to Rs 50 lakh, along with several mobile phones belonging to employees and customers.

Police said the gang disabled the alarm system and seized mobile phones to prevent anyone from raising an alert.

They remained inside the bank for nearly an hour before fleeing on motorcycles. A case was registered at Varachha police station under Sections 310(2), 311 and 127(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 25(1)(A) of the Arms Act.

Police Commissioner Anupam Singh Gehlot said the investigation involved extensive coordination.

â??Considering the seriousness of the offence, multiple teams of the Crime Branch along with local police worked using human intelligence and technical surveillance,â?? he said.

Officials analysed footage from more than 1,000 CCTV cameras and examined mobile tower data.

The accused were found to have used three motorcycles â?? a Hero Splendor, a Pulsar 220 and an Apache â?? fitted with fake registration plates copied from vehicles registered in Jamnagar, Valsad and Ahmedabad.

The motorcycles were later recovered abandoned from areas near Olpad and Kudsad village. One of the vehicles had been stolen from Khatodara police limits, while another had been sourced from Telangana.

Investigators said the accused had prepared fake Aadhaar cards and rented houses in Jahangir Pura, Rander-Ugat Canal Road and Ved Road, where they stayed for around two months.

During this period, they conducted reconnaissance of the bank and routes and also surveyed multiple banks before executing the robbery.

Police further said the gang had entered the bank earlier posing as customers to study staff positions and internal arrangements.

â??They clicked photographs and observed the seating layout. Even when not using phones, they pretended to speak on them to avoid suspicion,â?? Gehlot said.

"The accused allegedly chose the date of the robbery to coincide with municipal election activity in the city, believing that police deployment would be relatively lower and movement restricted due to metro construction work," officials said.

Based on intelligence inputs, police identified the involvement of a gang led by Kundan Kumar alias Kundan Bhagat, a resident of Bihar with a criminal record.

He is currently lodged in Beur Central Jail in Patna and is alleged to have coordinated the operation from inside prison.

Two accused â?? Shubham Kumar, 24, originally from Muzaffarnagar (Bihar) and residing in Raebareli, and Vikas Singh, 30, from Raebareli â?? were arrested from Ayodhya and Gonda districts in Uttar Pradesh.

Police said Shubham Kumar is the key accused and had been evading detection by not using his mobile phone and frequently changing locations, but was tracked and apprehended after continuous efforts over three days.

Vikas Singh, described as an associate, allegedly provided shelter and logistical support after the robbery and received financial benefit from the looted money.

â??Reliable information indicated that the gang of Kundan alias Bhagat had executed the robbery. Further technical and human intelligence led to the identification and arrest of the accused,â?? officials said.

Police recovered Rs 93,000 in cash and three mobile phones from the arrested men. They have been brought to Surat on a four-day transit remand.

Officials said Shubham Kumar has previous criminal cases registered in Bihar, including offences under the Arms Act and cases involving murder and robbery.

Police said legal procedures are under way to secure custody of the alleged mastermind from jail, and special teams have been formed to trace other absconding accused and recover the remaining stolen property.

/IANS