CHENNAI: In what seemed like a sequence from an action thriller, a 22-year-old man allegedly robbed an Indian Bank branch of Rs 6 lakh at gunpoint in Adyar Monday afternoon. One of the two guns the man, Manish Kumar Yadav, was bearing misfired at a traffic signal when members of the public tried to nab him. He was finally caught by public and traffic police at Second Avenue, Indira Nagar some 750 metres from the bank on First Avenue.
“We were at the bank when a man in a striped T-shirt and formal pants walked in, wearing a helmet. He went into the manager’s cabin. It looked like they were having a fight. There were only five people in the bank, as it was lunch time. In a few minutes he pulled out a gun. He walked out of the cabin and told us to stay calm and sit down. He walked to the cashier and demanded money at gunpoint,” said Ilayaraja, who was at the bank at the time.
“After taking the money, he left on his two-wheeler. A few minutes later, I followed on my bike and reached the Water Tank signal hardly 750 metres from the bank. I saw him at the signal across the road. I took a U-turn and knocked him over from behind. As he fell down he tried to pull a gun out of his bag and it misfired,” said Mohan Raj, a leather shop employee who had been at the bank to clear a cheque. The sound of the gun misfiring drew attention of traffic cops conducting a road safety campaign at that signal.
“We heard a loud sound and suspecting it to be a tyre bursting we rushed toward the direction of sound. That is when we saw a man running towards Canal Road. We nabbed him with the help of the public. When we checked his bag, we to found two country-made guns and money. It was only then that we realised that he had robbed a bank,” said D Joseph, inspector, Adyar traffic investigations. Manish was taken to Adyar police station for inquiries.
Police investigating the gunpoint robbery of an Indian Bank branch in Adyar on Monday said that the accused, Manish Yadav, hailed from Bihar and believe that he was motivated simply by a desire to get rich. “He used to sell ice cream at Besant Nagar beach and that was how he became familiar with the area. He lives in Kelambakkam. We have checked his phone records and so far there are no signs of him being associated with anybody else. He just wanted to become rich and hatched the plan to rob a bank. He had smuggled the gun in from his native place,” said a senior police office.
Meanwhile, the absence of any security staff at the bank has drawn concern. However, the branch was equipped with CCTV cameras. Senior staff of the bank said they did not have armed security as the branch did not see a high cash flow. Nonetheless armed security personnel would be appointed by Monday night, R Manimaran, the bank’s general manager told media.
“All alarms are functioning. Had I activated the alarm, the sound would have startled him (Manish) into shooting. I could have used the alarm if he had been unarmed. There are employees, customers and innocent people I was responsible for. We called the police as soon as he left,” Manimaran added. It may be noted that in 2012, five men reportedly robbed two banks in Keelkatalai and were killed by the city police at Velachery.