Gujarat: Five men loot Rs 6 lakh from PSU bank in Morbi

RAJKOT: In a broad daylight robbery, five unidentified persons barged into a public sector bank and looted Rs six lakh from two cashiers by holding them at a gunpoint in Morbi on Thursday.
The entire robbery was carried out within just seven minutes, said police. Four of them were nabbed from a field in Tupni village of Halvad taluka in Morbi late in the evening when they tried to escape after abandoning the car.
People of Tupani village spotted the car of the accused and nabbed them. The villagers were already alert as they had received the information about the robbery on WhatsApp. They knew that the robbers had fled in a car.
“When the villagers spotted the car moving suspiciously, they tried to stop the vehicle. When the robbers tried to flee, the villagers chased the car on two-wheelers. When the scared robbers abandoned their car and started running, the villagers nabbed them. Later, the villagers handed over the custody of the accused to us,” said Karanraj Vaghela, Morbi superintendent of police.
At around 2:50pm, the robbers had arrived at Mahendranagar crossroads, a bustling spot in Morbi, and parked their car on the road opposite to the Bank of Baroda and Dena Bank. Both banks operate from the same premises.
“They were armed with two country-made pistols and knives. They first robbed the security guard of his 12 bore gun and then got inside. They asked the staff to assemble together in the corner of the bank and held guns at the cashiers of Bank of Baroda and Dena Bank,” said R T Vyas, inspector with Morbi B division police station.
They robbed Bank of Baroda cashier of Rs 4.50 lakh cash and Dena Bank cashier of Rs 1.50 lakh.
Police suspect the accused were from other state as they were speaking in Hindi.
Bank robberies are rare in Gujarat. The last such crime was reported in Axis Bank’s branch at at the Chhatral GIDC in Kalol when three men with country-made pistols stormed inside and took away Rs 44 lakh. They had even shot one employee in the leg.
In Video:On cam: Robbers loot Rs 6 lakh from PSU banks in Gujarat