The Tribune, February 17, 2005

Armed men rob Ambala village bank of Rs 5.3 lakh
No security guard deployed
Rahul Das
Tribune News Service

Ambala, February 16
An armed robbery took place at a bank branch in Shahpur village this morning. The robbers decamped with Rs 5.30 lakh. The incident took place at the Allahabad bank branch located in the village, near the GT Road, at about 11.45 am. No one was injured in the incident. The robbery has caused concern among residents. The IGP (Ambala Range), Mr R.N. Chahalia, and the SP, Mr M.R. Kiran, visited the bank branch. Mr Chahalia said investigations were on and teams had been formed to nab the robbers. “We are working on certain leads and it would be premature to disclose the line of investigation. We have done nakabandi and are perusing earlier armed robbery incidents,” he stated.

Bank manager Narender Mohan Bhanot told the police that at about 11.45 am, two persons entered his cabin and one of them gave him a cheque to be encashed. The cheque was for Rs 3 lakh. Before Mr Bhanot could check the authenticity of the cheque, another person entered his cabin and took out a pistol. He threatend Mr Bhanot with dire consequences. The other two asked Mr Bhanot to step out of the cabin and one of them pulled at the telephone wire. They were in their early 30s. The robbers then went to the head cashier, Mr Madan Mohan Kharbanda, and asked him how much cash was with him. They then asked him to open the strongroom. Since, two persons were required to open the strongroom, another bank official was called for by Mr Kharbanda. A sum of Rs 1.35 lakh lying in the strong room was taken away. The robbers took a bag from the bank premises and stashed Rs 5.30 lakh into it. Thereafter, they locked bank employees in a room. They also took away two mobile phones. After some time, the employees managed to draw the attention of a resident who opened the room. The police was informed and a case was registered. Sniffer dogs and finger-print experts visited the site. Incidentally, there was no security guard at the bank. Police officials say that it made the bank branch a soft target. They said they had repeatedly asked banks to beef up security. The bank manager told the police that the decision on a security guard was taken by the head office.