Ghaziabad bank robbery: Burglars bypassed sensors, cops suspect ‘inside help’

The Ghaziabad police are still fumbling for clues in the burglary at the Kapda Mill branch of Punjab National Bank. What has left the cops puzzled is how the burglars bypassed movement sensors and knew where to enter the strongroom.

The thieves made a two-feet-wide hole to enter the strong room and broke open 30 out of 435 lockers on Saturday. The hole had been drilled at a height of nearly six feet through a wall between the strong room and an empty office.

Branch officials believe that the thieves could have broken into the strongroom before the sensor systems were activated for the night. “The movement sensor system which is connected to an alarm was to be activated at around 8-9pm. The thieves probably barged in before the sensor system could be activated. The police are now working on some leads,” said Ashok Srivastava, branch manager.

According to police, they have got some clues from a CCTV installed in the branch. They said that the robbery had been planned by a professional gang or someone who had inside help and was well versed with the bank operations. The police also plan to get in touch with their counterparts in Haryana and Punjab where similar incidents have taken place.

“We are working on leads from the CCTV. The burglary looks well-planned. It was done either by a professional gang or with help from someone who knew about the bank functioning. Apart from some movement seen in a CCTV footage, we have no other major clues,” said HN singh, senior superintendent of police, Ghaziabad.

“The bank officials have not given an estimate of valuables lost as of now,” Singh added.

According to sources, out of the 30 lockers that were targeted, several belong to reputed city traders who had put in major stock of jewellery and other valuables and the estimate of losses could run into crores.