East Delhi bank robbery bid foiled as guard leads fightback

NEW DELHI: A Tuesday afternoon attempt to rob the Kotak Mahindra Bank in Krishna Nagar in east Delhi was foiled by the bank’s tenacious security guard, who was helped by the some of the customers present. When the robbers opened fired from their guns, the guard retaliated in kind, though none of the shots hit anyone.
Around 2.30pm on Tuesday, two men wearing helmets entered the bank in the Vijay Chowk area near Krishna Nagar’s Bank Colony.Eyewitnesses said security guard Satender stopped the duo at the gate because he found their behaviour suspicious. When challenged by the guard, one of the men pulled out a pistol and pointed it at Satender and tried to grab his rifle.
The guard wouldn’t give up and a scuffle ensued. The two intruders began shooting wildly, but fortunately the customers and bank staff ducked behind the tables in time and avoided being shot. The robbers managed to reach the cash counter, but Satender held on to them till officials and some customers rushed to his help.
Fearing capture, the two robbers hurried out of the building and met up with an accomplice who was standing guard outside the bank. Satender chased after them and fired from his service rifle, but missed hitting them. He raised an alarm and his shouts alerted the passerbys, but the three men got on a bike and rode away.
“There was panic among everyone as bullets were flying inside the bank,” recalled Ritesh, who had seen the action from outside the building. “I could see the robbers pointing their pistol at everyone who tried to move. We thought they would kill someone to prove a point.”
When police arrived at the spot, Satender told them that he had been working as the security guard at the bank for the past three years and had used his presence of mind to stop the would-be robbers. In his statement, he described the men who had entered the bank as being 20-25 years old and physically well-built.
Police have asked investigators from the Crime Branch and Special Cell for assistance in solving the case. The cops have registered a case of attempt to murder against the unknown intruder even as police prepared to go on a pursuit of the criminals. CCTV footage from the bank has been recovered and is being scanned for information that could identify the three desperados.
This is the second incident of the sort in Delhi in the past months. In October 2018, robbery claimed the life of the cashier in a Corporation Bank branch in Chhawla in south-west Delhi. The robbers, who had fled with Rs 3 lakh, were arrested a day later.