Though Faisal was arrested in December last year the gang has gone on to allegedly execute several blasts. Their involvement is suspected in blast in a

train at the

Chennai Central station

on May 1, 2014 and the July 10, 2014 explosion near

and

police station in

apart from blast in

, UP in September. Agencies are also investigating if the bank robbery money flowed into

coffers as well to fund

blasts.

NEW DELHI: At a time when bank robberies have been found to be linked to terror attacks, West Bengal, Odisha, UP and Bihar have been found to top the list on bank robberies. According to latest government data, West Bengal far outstrips competition in terms of sheer number of bank heists.Of the 220 bank robberies reported across the country in 2012, 149 were reported from West Bengal alone with total amount looted standing at 1.07 crore. In 2013, this figure dropped drastically to 10 but amount looted rose to Rs 1.58 crore.Thus if 2012 and 2013 figures are taken together, West Bengal accounted for more than 50% of all bank robberies in the country.Notably, investigations into terror cases in the past couple of years have found that a series of attacks in the recent past have been funded through bank robberies. The gang led by SIMI operative Abu Faisal, which escaped Khandwa jail in Madhya Pradesh in October 2013 is suspected to have robbed a State Bank of India branch in Karimnagar, Telangana on February 1, 2014.Bangalore-GuwahatiFaraskhanaVishrambagPuneBijnorJamaat-ul-MujahideenBurdwanWest Bengal’s nearest competitor is Odisha with 18 cases in 2012 and 11 cases in 2013. Bihar and UP have both recorded 10 cases each in 2012. In 2013, they have maintained their record more or less with 11 and nine cases in 2013.In terms of amount of cash robbed, Bihar topped the chart in 2012 with Rs 1.29 crore being robbed followed by West Bengal. In 2013, Odisha recorded a whopping Rs 3.96 crore being robbed from banks followed by West Bengal again.Thus in terms of amount of cash robbed Odisha topped the charts if 2012 and 2013 figures are taken together. West Bengal follows close behind.Banks seem safest in militancy affected J&K and North East (due to heavy security) which have together recorded less than five robberies in both the years and Kerala and Delhi which have recorded zero incidents.