Thief attempts to break into SBM bank locker

The incident came to light on Monday morning when some of the staff members at the State Bank of Mysore reached the office and found the air-conditioning unit’s vent broken-open. They immediately alerted the Anna Salai police station and a team of policemen rushed to the spot to conduct preliminary investigations. 

A police official said that the miscreant had entered the bank through the AC vent as it was covered with thin plywood. “He could have easily pushed it down and gained entry. The bank was closed on Saturday and Sunday. So we are not exactly sure when the burglary attempt took place,” the official said. “The unidentified man must have used a hammer to drill a hole in the wall that shielded the locker room but could not succeed in doing so. Hence, it appears he dropped the idea and left.” He had also disconnected the burglar alarm, but could not succeed in breaking the safe.

Police suspect that someone who had visited the bank earlier and noticed the plywood sheet covering the AC vent could have attempted the burglary. “We suspect that the man must have tried to break down the locker from behind to steal money stored in it,” the police official said. 

The police have got the CCTV footage from the camera placed outside the bank as there was no such facility inside the bank premises. However, the visuals in the footage they have collected is not clear, according to the police. The Anna Salai police have registered a case and investigations are on. 

The incident comes close on the heels of Sunday’s arrest of five people, including four bank employees, for smuggling out demonetised currencies worth Rs 25 lakh from the SMB’s branch at Shastri Nagar at Adyar area in the city late on Saturday night, for exchanging it into new notes, which was later robbed by an armed gang.