2 held for east Delhi bank heist bid

Police on Saturday arrested two of the three men who had allegedly attempted to rob a bank in east Delhi’s Krishna Nagar on Tuesday.

The trio allegedly planned the robbery based on several Hollywood movies but their attempt was scuttled after they ran into the bank’s guard.

Police identified the two men as 25-year-old businessman Prabhjot Singh and his associate, a 19-year-old Sukhdev Singh, a BSc student of a Meerut college. Police said they have also identified the third suspect who had allegedly bought a pistol for them to commit the robbery.

Deputy commissioner of police (Shahdara) Meghna Yadav said police scanned a series of CCTV footages from various locations to identify the suspects. “Footages from cameras over a stretch of about 2.5 km through which the suspects had fled were checked. People from religious places, shops, restaurants, property dealers from the area of Geeta Colony, Trilokpuri and Kalyanpuri were questioned and the third man, who is still absconding, was identified,” Yadav said.

She said police identified their vehicle as a black Splendor motorcycle with designer alloy wheels.

“We scanned more than 100 motorcycles of similar make and colour. We also verified all recently sold bikes from showrooms in Delhi and zeroed in on those with similar alloys. Meanwhile, during raids to arrest the identified man and his friends, we identified his two aides as Prabhjot Singh and Sukhdev Singh and they were arrested following raids,” the DCP said.

The motorcycle was also recovered and was found to be registered on Prabhjot’s name, she said.

The officer said, during questioning the duo told police they had done a recce of the Kotak Mahindra Bank, which they planned to hit, and had planned escape routes a week in advance. “They said they had watched Baby Driver and then planned to rob the bank. Prabhjot, who holds an account in the same bank, had initiated the idea of the robbery and had chosen post lunch time to strike because he knew it was the time when cash is loading in the cash van. He had also reviewed the security of the bank multiple times,” Yadav said.

According to police, Prabhjot was heavily in debt and Sukhdev’s father was a truck driver. “Both of them said they needed money and decided to hit the bank. They did not know how much money they would rob. Prabhjot fired the shot in the bank,” said the DCP.

First Published: Jul 08, 2019 04:26 IST