BHOPAL: Exposing the state of security in Madhya Pradesh capital (particularly when the State assembly’s monsoon session is underway), unidentified men walked away with a box containing Rs 43 lakh from a cash van outside a ATM in city’s MP Nagar area in broad daylight on Thursday.
The two to three accused, all aged between 30 and 40 years, came near the van in the afternoon outside the Bank of India ATM in the crowded MP Nagar Zone II area.
Upon noticing that two of the employees had gone inside the ATM to refill cash, they informed the armed security guard standing outside the van and the van driver seated inside about Rs 10 and Rs 500 rupee notes lying on the ground.
The security guard and the driver, unmindful of the plans of the robbers, hastily started checking if the notes were lying outside, leaving the van unsecured. The unidentified men then opened the other door of the van, lifted the cash box containing Rs 43 lakh and escaped through one of the bylanes of the crowded locality.
Coming to know about the incident, the cash van staff immediately rang up the police. Investigations revealed that the stolen box with Rs 43 lakh cash contained currency notes in the denomination of Rs 100, 500 and 2000.
“We’ve retrieved CCTV grabs of the entire episode, which reveal the possibility of 2-3 men aged between 30 and 40 years being involved. All police stations in the district and neighbourhood have been alerted and sent CCTV grabs of the incident,” said ASP Bhopal Hitesh Chaudhary.