Daring Daylight Heist: ₹14 Crore Gold, ₹5 Lakh Cash Looted from Bank in 18 Minutes
Jabalpur (The Uttam Hindu): Robbers have committed a major crime in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. Armed robbers fled after looting gold worth more than Rs 14 crore and cash worth Rs 5 lakh from the branch of 'ESAF Small Finance Bank' located in Khitauli of the city. The surprising thing is that this entire incident was carried out within just 18 minutes.
Jabalpur Rural Additional Superintendent of Police (Additional SP) Suryakant Sharma said that the accused came on two motorcycles and were wearing helmets. They entered the bank early in the morning and escaped after looting 14.8 kg of gold and cash worth Rs 5 lakh in just 18 minutes. The police have registered a case and started investigation.
Police officials said that no security guard was posted in the bank branch. At the time of the incident, there were six employees present in the bank. The robbers entered the bank at 8:50 am and fled after carrying out the robbery at exactly 9:08 am.
Police are scanning CCTV footage in which the robbers are seen fleeing on a motorcycle. According to officials, the robbers did not openly display weapons, but one of the robbers had a gun tucked in his belt.
A senior official also expressed displeasure over the fact that the bank employees informed the police about 45 minutes after the incident after discussing with their seniors. He said, "If we had been informed on time, the robbers could have been caught. At present, all possible efforts are being made to arrest the accused."
According to sources, usually the bank opens at 10:30 am, but due to the festival the branch was opened at 8:00 am that day, which the robbers took advantage of.