Mangaluru: A daylight bank robbery was reported from Ullal near Mangaluru, on Friday, a day after a similar robbery in Bidar in which a security staff was killed.
As per officials, at least five masked robbers, armed with guns and knives, entered the Kotekar Vyavasaya Seva Sahakari Bank, stole cash and gold jewellery, and fled in a black car. The robbery took place between 11:30 am and 12:30 pm on the day. A group of five to six men, aged around 25 to 35 years, entered the bank wearing masks and armed with pistols, swords and knives. Five employees were present in the bank and they were threatened by the robbers who after looting the cash and gold jewellery fled in a car.
Mangaluru City Police Commissioner Anupam Agarwal said, "The accused, who were speaking in Hindi, opened the cupboards containing gold ornaments and other valuables and decamped with them by threatening the staff. The value of the stolen items is estimated to be around Rs 4 crores. Detailed evaluation is underway." He said the culprits fled the spot in a black Fiat car. Police teams have been formed to investigate the case and arrest the accused. Efforts are on to trace the suspects based on available clues and technical surveillance, Agarwal said.
Hearing the screams of the bank staff, a few students downstairs ran towards the bank on the first floor. The robbers asked the students to back off. While the robbers spoke to the students in Kannada, they spoke to the bank staff in Hindi. The robbers also stole a ring from a technician working on the bank's CCTV system during the heist, Agarwal said.
Karnataka Assembly Speaker UT Khader, who was attending a program with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, visited the bank to take stock of the situation. He also directed the ACP to arrest the robbers immediately. A team of dog squad, fingerprint experts and Ullal police reached the spot and are investigating the matter. On Thursday, a similar incident was reported from Bidar where an ATM staff was shot dead. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah held an emergency meeting with senior police officers in Mangaluru in the wake of the incidents and instructed police to nab the accused.
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