A man, said to be a dismissed Jawan of the Indian Army, allegedly committed a daring daylight robbery of Rs 6.65 lakh at a branch of Punjab National Bank (PNB) located in Vijay Nagar area of Indore in Madhya Pradesh.

According to police officials, the police teams investigating the crime succeeded in zeroing in on the suspect within 12 hours of the robbery by following the footage available from various CCTV cameras.

Advertisement

Police said the suspect was identified as Arun Singh, who lives in Banganga area of Indore. However, when the police reached his house on Wednesday, he had fled.

Police recovered Rs 4 lakh with PNB seal on them, a .315 bore licensed rifle with which the looter had fired a shot inside the bank, his motorcycle, boots and the bag in which he stuffed the looted currency.

The looter had barged into the PNB’s branch in Scheme Number-54 locality of Vijay Nagar area on Tuesday after the business hours for the customers were over and the bank’s cashier and other staff were counting the currency and storing them in a box.

The accused fired a shot with his rifle at the cashier’s glass pane, resulting in panic amongst the dozen employees present there at the time. He then filled up Rs 6.65 lakh currency notes inside his backpack and fled within just three minutes.

He sped away on a green-coloured motorcycle. At the time of the robbery, the accused was wearing a raincoat and mask on his face. So his identity was not clear in the bank’s CCTV footage.

A police team led by Inspector Anil Gautam followed the trail of the looter’s green motorcycle through CCTV footage and reached a house in Shyam Nagar.

A woman opened the door and told the police that she lives with her husband, who is a former Army jawan and belongs to Etawah in UP. She also told the police that her husband had come home but then left in a hurry.

When police searched the house, they found the looted currency and other items.

During further investigations, the police also learnt that till April this year, the suspect used to work as a security guard in a building located opposite to the PNB Branch. So, he knew the timings and activities of the branch.

It was also found that he bought a new 55-inch LED TV for his wife and daughter on the evening of the robbery, probably from the looted money.

Arun Singh was reportedly in the Army from 1999 to 2006 but was dismissed from service due to alcoholism and indiscipline.

olice teams are searching for the accused and further investigations are on.