A man being questioned about the £26.5 million sterling Northern Bank raid is being detained for a further 60 hours, police confirmed today.
Detectives were granted a further period to interview Chris Ward (24) from Poleglass, west Belfast, who was one of the Northern Bank staff members taken hostage by the gang.
Mr Ward was arrested on Tuesday, November 29th in the latest series of raids by detectives investigating the robbery in Belfast last December. Mr Ward has always denied any involvement in the raid.
After the vaults of the Northern Bank HQ opposite Belfast City Hall in Donegall Square were cleared out in the raid, the worker gave a TV interview in which he detailed his ordeal in the run up to the robbery.
Mr Ward said gunmen took over his home warning him that both himself and his family would be killed if he did not cooperate. Mr Ward said himself and his supervisor were forced to go to work as normal the following day while their families were held hostage.
During the heist Mr Ward said he was ordered to stuff £1.2 million worth of notes into a sports bag and carry it from the bank in a dummy run.
A 50-year-old from Carrickfergus, County Antrim who was arrested for questioning in connection with the robbery was last night released without charge. Three men have already been charged over the biggest cash theft in British history - one with the robbery itself.
A small amount of cash recovered in Co Cork is believed to have come from the robbery. With the bulk missing - most of it in Northern Bank notes, the bank was forced to issue redesigned banknotes and withdraw the earlier issue in a bid to make the robbers' haul worthless.