Alert bank staff thwart robbery

An alert cashier and a strategically placed alarm saved a bank from losing Rs 55 lakh in a robbery attempt morning. The incident happened at the Minto Road branch of Oriental Bank of Commerce in Central Delhi. HT Correspondent reports.

An alert cashier and a strategically placed alarm saved a bank from losing Rs 55 lakh in a robbery attempt on Friday morning.

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The incident happened at the Minto Road branch of Oriental Bank of Commerce in Central Delhi. The robbers struck as soon as the bank opened for business at 10:00 am.

The cashier, Raj Kumar, managed to thwart the robbery bid after he pressed one of the two burglar alarms placed inside the staff restroom.

According to KL Girotra, senior manager of the bank, the smart effort of the staff members saved at least Rs 55 lakh that was in the bank at the time.

According to the police, four armed robbers posing as customers entered the bank and held the bank staffs and customers hostage at gunpoint. They also fired a couple of rounds in the air to scare them. The bank had no CCTV cameras and the bank staff said they were in the process of being installed.

The incident took place in the Red Quarter residential complex in Minto Road area.

The bank’s security guard, Pawan Kumar, said, “Around 10:05 a.m. four people came in an Innova car. One of them asked me about forms and two others approached the cashier, while one stood in front of me at the main gate.”

The cashier however got suspicious and very soon found a gun pointed to his head. The other two robbers pointed their pistols on the staff members and asked them to sit on the floor. When Raj Kumar was in conversation with one of the assailants, the guard got up from his seat and positioned his rifle. However, another assailant who was at the other end of the bank came and kept a pistol on his forehead.

The employees were then all pushed to a corner right beside the staff restroom.

“The cashier snuck inside the restroom and pressed the alarm even before they were able to open the strong room. On hearing the alarm the robbers panicked and ran from the bank firing a few shots in the air,” said a senior police officer.

The guard picked his rifle and fired two shots in the air. But by that time the robbers had fled from the spot but they did manage to take a few rounds of the guards .12 bore rifle.