In an incident that has left the residents of this small town shocked, five masked men barged into the Mannargudi Mercantile Bank in Thiruvarur and robbed it at gunpoint in broad daylight.
It is reported that cash worth Rs 6 lakhs and jewellery worth Rs 3 lakh were stolen. While no one was hurt during the ordeal, it is alleged that one of the men fired a gun to threaten those inside.
The police are currently investigating the case and are yet to nab the robbers. According to reports, the incident took place after lunch in the afternoon. A group of five men, four of them armed with guns and one with a weapon, came in a van, entered the bank and threatened the bank’s manager, Govindarajan, to open the lockers at gunpoint.
While one of them stood outside, the other four then proceeded to threaten those inside at gunpoint. When the manager was unable to open the locker, the group took everything that was available outside. They also took the DVD recorder in which the CCTV footage was being fed.
Thiruvarur SP Mayilvaganan is currently investigating the case. Unfortunately, this is not the first time the bank has been robbed. Previously, it was robbed on two occasions and employees were suspected to be involved. It is also being reported that the police are investigating this angle.
In December 2017, authorities lodged a complaint against 6 employees for fund misappropriation to the tune of Rs 2.43 crore by pledging imitation jewellery. However, this is indeed the first time a robbery at gunpoint has taken place here.