BHOPAL: Five armed men carried out a swift and wellplanned daylight robbery at a Bank of Maharashtra branch in Singrauli on Friday afternoon, escaping with Rs 5 crore gold and Rs 20 lakh cash in just 15 minutes.
The robbers also fired a shot in the air to intimidate people, and a customer sustained minor injuries in the ensuing chaos.The incident occurred between 12:50 pm and 1:05 pm on Vindhyanagar Road near Tiger Inn Hotel under the Kotwali police station area, causing panic in the locality.Singrauli SP Manish Khatri told TOI, “They were five men, all armed. They also fired one shot in the air. A used shell was recovered by us.
One customer sustained minor injuries. As per information provided by the bank so far, Rs 20 lakh in cash and gold worth Rs 5 crore were robbed. The face of one accused was covered, others did not cover their faces. We have sent teams to arrest the accused. Prima facie, it seems like a pre-planned robbery.
”According to police, two of the accused initially entered the bank and held staff and customers at gunpoint. Three more accomplices soon joined them. The gang overpowered those present, assaulted staff, and forced access to the cash counter and lockers containing pledged gold, which belonged to customers who had mortgaged it for loans.
CCTVs captured the entire sequence, including the entry and exit of the robbers. Senior police officials and forensic teams reached the spot soon after the incident. A manhunt has been launched, with checkpoints set up across the district and CCTV footage being analysed to identify and arrest the accused.
