Punjab: Five men rob bank of Rs 3 lakh, staff phones

BATHINDA/LUDHIANA: Five unidentified armed men robbed Rs 3.43 lakh from a bank in Tehna village of Faridkot district on Thursday afternoon. Bank manager Anil Kumar sustained an injury when he tried to stop the intruders.
The robbers, who escaped in a Honda City car, took three mobile phones of IndusInd Bank officials. The bank had no CCTV cameras and no security guard was deployed, police said.
Village residents said five men in a Honda City car drove up to the bank. One of them remained inside the car while the other four, who were armed, went inside and snatched Rs 3.43 lakh. When the manager tried to stop them, the robbers attacked him with a sharp-edged weapon. They fled with the money and employees’ mobile phones.
Faridkot superintendent of police (investigations) Sewa Singh Malhi said, “The police is looking into CCTV footage from other cameras fitted in the village as the bank branch had no CCTV or security guard. Efforts are being made to arrest the guilty and a case has been registered.”
Meanwhile, Fardikot SSP Manjit Singh Dhesi was among the officers transferred on Wednesday night. In his place, Gurdaspur SSP Swarandeep Singh was posted in Faridkot. He is expected to join on Friday.
Meanwhile in Ludhiana, police arrested a dismissed cop and his accomplice for snatching a mobile phone.
Inspector Amarjeet Singh, SHO, division number six police station, said police were investigating the May 8 incident and circulated the CCTV footage to get clue about the snatchers, who were masked and on a bike. They had targeted Pawan Kumar Verma of Janta Nagar, who worked at a factory.
The accused have identified as former sepoy Gurdeep Singh of Lohara colony and his friend Kuldeep Singh of Shimlapuri and arrested them on Wednesday evening. Both the accused sent to two-day police remand on Thursday.
The SHO said both the accused were drug addicts and had started snatching mobile phone mainly from migrant workers. He said Gurdeep, worked as sepoy in the Ludhiana commissionerate. Since he was hooked to drugs, he would remain absent from duty. Because of that, he was dismissed from police service.
They said Gurdeep had got job in Punjab Police on compassionate grounds after his father Darshan Singh had died in firing in 2008 at Chandigarh road.