Robbers were from Meerut

This wasn’t the first time robbers struck at Central Bank of India’s Kalkaji branch.

This wasn’t the first time robbers struck at Central Bank of India’s Kalkaji branch.

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A fortnight ago, a man snatched Rs 10,000 from a customer inside the branch’s premises and managed to run away, the bank’s employees said.

Police arrested Meenu, alias Kiran Pal, the fourth member of a Meerut-based gang, involved in a spate of bank robberies at south Delhi. The other three arrested are Mohammad Ishtyak, Majid and Ahmed Shaheed, all in their early twenties and from Meerut.

Police said the gang’s modus operandi was to drive to Delhi from Meerut, commit the robberies and return same day. They used to have liquor before committing the crimes. They are involved in more than 50 cases of snatching and robbery in Noida, Ghaziabad and Delhi, the police said.

“They bought three foreign-made pistols with the money made from snatchings and started looting banks. Two of them would visit a bank and check security arrangements. Whenever they found security to be lax, the other two would enter the bank to keep a watch on people withdrawing huge amounts. Then they followed the person and robbed him at gunpoint. If anyone resisted they opened fire,” said Ajay Choudhry, DCP (southeast).