Rs 6.5 lakh stolen at knifepoint from SBI branch in Andhra Pradesh

Narasapuram: An unidentified man carried out a daylight robbery of Rs 6.5 lakh in a State Bank of India branch in Andhra Pradesh, a police official said on Thursday.

The man, who was wearing a regular mask, carried out the robbery by threatening the branch’s cash officer with a knife around 3 pm on Wednesday in Narasapuram town, West Godavari district, the official said.

“He (unidentified person) directly came into the cash officer’s room and pretended to need a gold loan but took out a knife, threatened (the officer) and decamped with Rs 6.5 lakh cash,” Narasapuram sub-divisional police officer K Ravi Manohara Chary told PTI. 

The mask-wearing man was also sporting a cap, presumably to conceal his identity.

On preliminary investigation, Chary said the police found that the robber had carried out a recce of the Joysula Street SBI branch for about three hours before striking when two women employees were counting cash.

He said only three women were in the bank when the robbery took place -- a cash officer and an attendant, and another woman officer in her cabin, whereas the bank manager was not present at that time.

Police are hunting for the robber who is still on the run and also registered a case under IPC Section 392 for robbery.