Robbers escape as bid to loot bank in broad daylight goes in vain

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On Friday, a group of robbers futile effort to loot a bank went in vain as the alarm went off in time. A futile attempt was made to loot a private bank at Annur near here in the early hours on Friday, the police said. A police patrol on the morning rounds heard an alarm going off from the bank and noticed the window grill of the building broken open.

The patrol alerted senior police officials and the bank manager who immediately rushed to the spot, the police said. The robbers entered the bank through the window but failed to break open the locker. They fled when the alarm went off, the police said.

The locker contained Rs four crore worth of pledged gold jewels and Rs 10 lakh in cash, the police quoting the
bank officials said. Police are going through footage of CCTV kept in many places in the vicinity to identify the culprits. One footage showed a bulb in the front of the bank was lit at around 3.15 AM, indicating that the robbers tried to break in at that time, the police said.

Police recovered a 20-metre-long electric wire suspected to be brought to use to cut open the locker, they said.

In a similar incident, the Hyderabad Police arrested two gang members who were allegedly involved in the robbery and snatching cases while two other suspects are said to be absconding.

While the arrested suspects have been identified as Mohammed Feroz (34), and Syed Majeed (25), the absconding suspects have been identified as Menaj and Waheed.

"The arrested suspects are 'rowdy sheeters' and have a criminal background, they have been involved in serious offences committed in Hyderabad. These four gang members robbed at two locations in the city, first at the City Center Mall then near Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital. We are planning to invoke Preventive Detention (PD) act against the offenders," Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) AR Srinivas said while addressing the media.

The robbers threatened few people in the City Center Mall and snatched cash from them. Later, they also threatened an auto driver and fled with his auto.

In another incident, they threatened few people with a sword near Sarojini Devi Eyes Hospital and fled away after snatching their mobiles and Rs 600 cash, as told by Srinivas.

With inputs from PTI

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