70 tolas gold stolen from Andhra Bank

Hyderabad: Unidentified persons struck at Andhra Bank branch on an inter-state highway in Ghatkesar late on Sunday despite heavy police patrolling in the area. The police suspect them to be professional burglars as they damaged all CC cameras and computers in the bank. Preliminary investigation revealed that 70 tolas of gold jewellery could have been taken away from the bank.

According to the police, a burglars gang broke-open the iron grill and gained entry into the bank through the bathroom ventilator. Later, they used a small table to cut the grills of the window and entered in to the bank.
The burglars directly went to the strong room where gold was stored and entered it by cutting the grills. They made a hole from the top of the almirah and took away about 70 tolas of gold jewellery.

The police said that there was about 12 kg gold and Rs 10 lakh cash in the bank's lockers but the burglars fled only with the gold jewellery stored in the almirah. The police further said that the intruders threw chili powder in the bank to prevent police sniffer dogs from following them. They also escaped with the DVR, which stores the CC camera recordings.

The bank manager lodged a complaint with the Ghatkesar police that about 70 tolas gold jewellery have been burgled and a DVR was also stolen. They were unable to ascertain the exact quantity of gold lost in the heist as the officer who dealt with the mortgage of property was on leave and he would resume duties on Tuesday.

Malkajgiri ACP M Ravi Chandan Reddy told media that four dedicated teams have been formed to investigate the case. Three days ago, Cyberabad police cautioned banks to engage the services of security personnel at banks and ATMs or face legal action.