CHENNAI: In a brazen crime, a five-member gang allegedly barged into a branch of the Tamilnad Mercantile Bank near Mannargudi Monday afternoon and decamped with `6 lakh in cash and jewellery worth `3 lakh at gunpoint. The robbery took place at the TMB branch of Asesham village close to Mannargudi municipality during the bank staff’s lunch break.
The gang reportedly arrived in a white car at 1.45 pm. They parked on the main road and two gang members went into the bank and asked for a demand draft for `50 lakhs. “Only branch manager P Govindaraj and cashier R Thiyagarajan were at the bank. The cashier asked the two persons to come after a while. The duo went out and returned with three others. All of the robbers had covered their faces with handkerchiefs,” sources said.
The robbers showed a gun and a knife and threatened the staff to be quiet. They reportedly forced the manager to part with the bank locker keys at knife-point. “The robbers were unable to open the locker as it has three keys. The robbers got nervous and one them shot into the ground. They were only able to take the cash and jewellery on the cashier’s table,” police said. The gang drove off in the car.
Police said the robbers spoke fluent Tamil. The bank had six CCTV cameras but the culprits took the memory cards.