Cops puzzled as intruders burn documents in city bank

Police said, two persons sneaked into the Punjab National Bank branch on Avvai Shanmugham Salai, Gopalapuram and torched some documents kept in the branch. Since there was no evidence of the intruders attempting to rob the cash, police are investigating to find out the exact motive of the duo. Police sources said some residents on the upper floors of the same building noticed fire and smoke emanating from the bank branch around 1.30 am and alerted the police.  A team, led by senior police officials, rushed to the spot and found the front lock of the bank broken open and some files burning. Meanwhile, the branch manager came to the spot, opened the locker and found the entire cash of Rs 90 lakh that was kept inside the locker safe. 

Police after analysing the CCTV footage from the bank, told DTNext that the accused did not make any attempts to tamper with the locker and they also did not have any tools like gas cutters. So, police are investigating whether the prime motive of the culprits was to destroy specific documents kept in the bank, rather than burglary. Police suspect that the intruders could be locals and are checking the images of the duo with those available in their records. “The visuals show them tearing some documents and setting them on fire. They do not seem to be expert burglars. Also, it is a small bank with just one room and not designed to keep large amount of cash. So, we are investigating what documents they destroyed to ascertain their real intention,” the official added. Police said the timely information passed on by the residents helped them prevent a major fire accident. The bank is situated on the ground floor of a multi-storeyed building and if it had not been doused in time, the fire could have destroyed the whole building, police said. 

Jan 17: Burglars broke open the vault of a United Bank of India branch on  R K Mutt Road in Mylapore and escaped with valuables 

Nov 19, 2016: Three unidentified persons gained entry into the State Bank of Mysore branch on Whites Road through an opening at the rear end of the office, but the valuables were safe as they couldn’t break open the vault 

May 27, 2016: An intruder managed to enter an Indian Overseas Bank branch at Madhavaram through the front door as there was no security personnel. However, his attempts to break open the vault were in vain.