Thiruvananthapuram: In a daylight heist, a man barged into a bank, threatened staff with a knife and made off with Rs 15 lakh in Potta in Thrissur district Friday. According to reports, the incident occurred at 2:15 pm at the Federal Bank branch.
Clear CCTV footage showed the man parking his scooter outside the bank before rushing in. With most staff on lunch break, only the manager and an attendant were present.
Reports said after threatening the staff using a knife, the suspect locked them in the bathroom and broke the glass of the cash counter using a chair. He was then seen taking the cash available at the counter which he stuffed into his backpack.
Later, he was seen heading towards Thrissur.
The police arrived at the spot immediately. It is not clear if the armed security guard was present when the incident took place.
The suspect was wearing a helmet, a mask and gloves on both hands, making it difficult for police to identify the person.
The Chalakudy police said a probe is on and they were trying to identify the person behind the crime from the available CCTV footage.
"From the CCTV visuals obtained so far, the suspect took pocket roads after the crime instead of taking National Highway. The entire robbery was conducted in less than 3 minutes which indicates the kind of homework before the actual crime," the officer said.
"It should be assumed that the suspect would have visited and observed the bank before planning the task as he was well aware about lunch break timings, number of staff and the time when the bank is not so crowded," Saneeshkumar Joseph MLA, was quoted as saying.
