Two woman bank employees foiled a robbery attempt by two armed men at the State Bank of India Eko money transfer counter in Badshahpur here.
Bimla Devi, 42, and her colleague Poonam, who is six-months pregnant, fought the men, who were armed with country-made pistols and barged into the branch on Monday afternoon.
Dramatic CCTV footage showed the men ransacking the room and beating up the employees before being challenged by the two women staff. Taking on the miscreants, Ms. Bimla and Ms. Poonam managed to snatch a pistol from one of them after a scuffle. The two also raised the alarm, and some passers-by and shopkeepers rushed into the branch and helped overpower the robbers. The two men were thrashed and later handed over the police.
The Gurugram police has decided to honour the two women for showing exemplary courage and thwarting the robbery.
Speaking to The Hindu , Ms. Bimla said she and colleague took on the robbers without fearing for their lives. “Usually, there are around four or five employees in the branch. But all the male employees were away for official work on Monday at around 2.30 p.m. when the robbers struck. Initially, we thought the two were customers. But they took out country-made pistols and took us hostage,” said Ms. Bimla, a resident of Badshahpur. “We managed to snatch the pistol from one of the robbers. We shouted for help and soon some men on the road outside came to our help,” she said.
Around ₹2.5 lakh in cash were available with the women at the counter when the robbers struck. The two accused have been identified as Deepak (21) and Mohit (20), both residents of Dadri.
