Easy pickings for bank robbers

Co-op bank had no security alarms and the safe was rusted

In another Thane robbery, Rs14.79 lakh was stolen from the safe of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) Co-operative Bank. The theft took place at the bank’s ST Depot branch near Thane station. Bank officials only came to know of the robbery on Monday morning.

The robbers entered the bank by removing a ventilation grill on the roof of the building in which the bank is located. They then entered first floor corridor near the bank’s gate. The bank’s shutter had only one lock which was easily broken open. The robbers broke open the safe and fled with the cash from the same route.

The bank did not have any security alarms or locks on any of the lockers and cabinets. The safe in which the cash was kept was in a very poor and rusted condition, due to which it was easy to open the lock of the safe. A police chowky as well as the State Transport control room is located nearby.

“We do not always keep this much cash, but this time we were very unfortunate” said a bank official.

“This was a pre-planned house break-in theft where the accused knew where to enter from. Some bank officials might have a hand in the theft. This is because most of the time the bank does not have so much cash but their safe had a lot of cash at the time of the robbery,” said BR Chowdhary, senior police inspector at the Thane Nagar police station.