Robbers cut hole in Ghaziabad bank’s strongroom wall, walk away with valuables

The incident came to light when an official of the bank reached the bank branch at Kapda Mill in Modi Nagar and found sunrays emerging from the strong room.

Burglars broke into the strong room of a branch of Punjab National Bank in Modi Nagar and escaped with valuables and documents reportedly belonging to customers from 30 lockers on Sunday night.

Police officials inspecting the scene of crime after thieves on Sunday night broke into the wall of Punjab National Bank branch at Modi Nagar,Ghaziabad, and escaped with valuables after breaking locks of 30 lockers. (HT Photo)

The incident came to light when an official of the bank reached the bank branch at Kapda Mill in Modi Nagar and found sunrays emerging from the strong room.

On closer scrutiny he found a hole in the wall from where the thieves allegedly entered the strong room. The bank was closed on Sunday.

Police said that the burglars broke through the wall and entered the strong room.

“We have found 30 lockers were broken and items taken away. Four of these were not allotted to any customer. We are trying to assess the value of items taken away,” said branch manager Ashok Srivastava.

Police officials, a dog squad and forensic experts were called in to collect evidence from the crime scene.

After the bank officials and police took stock of the situation on Monday morning, people whose lockers were broken into were informed.

Customers who arrived at the bank broke down when they were told about their missing valuable. Angry customers cornered bank officials and raised apprehensions over whether their valuables will ever be recovered.

Police officials said that they are scanning the CCTV footage to identify the burglars.

“We are enquiring more from bank officials about the incident. They are trying to assess the loss and have not submitted any figure as of now. Our teams are investigating the case,” said Arvind Kumar Maurya, superintendent of police (rural).