The Hindu : Rs. 1 lakh robbed from car near Secretariat

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 11, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram

Rs. 1 lakh robbed from car near Secretariat

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM April 10. In a daring daylight heist in the State capital, Rs. 1 lakh was robbed from a person soon after he withdrew the amount from the State Bank of Travancore's Treasury Branch near the Secretariat under the Cantonment Police Station limits today.

According to the police, the robbery took place at 11-45 a.m. soon after the victim of the robbery, Abdul Hakim, a resident of Nilamel in Kollam district, withdrew the amount from the bank.

The car was parked in front of the bank branch and after getting into the vehicle, Mr. Hakim kept the cash, which was in notes of Rs. 500 denomination and in two bundles, in the dashboard.

Mr. Hakim was about to start the car and leave when a person knocked at the window on the driver's side, asking him whether a Rs. 10 note that had fallen on the ground belonged to him.

This distracted Mr. Hakim and before he knew what was happening, another person suddenly appeared on the other side of the car, opened the door, took the cash bundles from the dash and made good his escape.

The Cantonment Police have registered a case on the basis of the complaint filed by Mr. Hakim and investigations are on.

A robbery in which a similar modus operandi was employed, had place in the same locality early this year.

There was another daring daylight heist of Rs. 10 lakhs from Union Bank of India officials in May 1999, at Sreekariyam in the city. Both these cases are yet to be solved.

In the case of the Rs.10 lakh heist, the taxi in which the money was being transported by two UBI bank staff had got stuck in the traffic on the congested Elamkulam-Sreekariyam stretch when the robbers struck. A man of medium build had walked up to the car, opened the door and snatched the money bag from the bank manager who was sitting in the rear. The money was being transported from the head office of the bank at Statue to its sub-branch at Attipra.

The City Police Commissioner, Rajan Singh, when contacted, said in the two robbery cases reported from the same locality, the modus operandi was the same. Besides, the currency notes used to distract the intended victims were of small denomination.

According to him, it was difficult for the police to prevent such crimes from taking place even in broad daylight unless those who carried such large amounts of cash or other valuable items maintained vigilance.

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