Boy walks out with Rs 35 lakh from Patiala bank

PATIALA: A boy in the 10-12 years age group took away a bag containing Rs 35 lakh cash from SBI Bank in Patiala, located near the Kali Devi Temple, in the heart of the erstwhile royal city.
The incident took place during peak hours providing the accused a cover to escape unnoticed. The theft was captured on CCTV.
As per the CCTV footage, the incident took place at around 11.37 am. A minor boy was spotted walking inside the bank and entered a counter where the bag of cash was kept to be loaded into an ATM.
Sharing the details, SP City Wazir Singh said that a minor boy accompanied by a man entered the bank and looked around the bank for 20 minutes before striking. "The boy entered counter number five and took away the bag without getting noticed. He was in and out of the counter in less than 30 seconds," said SP, who held that the incident occurred due to negligence of the bank staff. Police, however, ruled out the possibility of bank staff being involved in the crime.
The SP said police have started investigating the case based on the clues gathered from the CCTV footage, which shows the boy ran towards the left side of the bank. "According to the statements of bank employees, the bag was placed on the floor by the guard on duty who got busy locking the door. In the meantime, the boy picked up the bag without getting noticed and walked out .