Burglars decamp with Rs 1.22 cr in old currency from Sonepat bank

Mangalore Today News Network

Rohtak, Nov 25, 2016: Unidentified burglars decamped with Rs1.22 crore in old currency from Oriental Bank of Commerce branch located in Saidpur village of Kharkhoda block in Sonepat district on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, a police official said. He added the burglars broke the wall of a washroom to enter the bank building and used a sharp weapon to cut the safe.

“They have stolen Rs1,22,91,837. Out of these, Rs 50,000 were in new (Rs2000) currency, around Rs 25,000 were in Rs100, Rs 50, Rs 20 and Rs 10 notes, while the remaining were amount was in Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes,” Kharkhoda police station in-charge Karambir Singh said. He added, “There was no night guard present in the bank. We have the CCTV footage, on the basis of which we are probing into the matter,” he said.

The banks across the country have large amount of cash present in their custody as people are depositing old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes after they ceased to be legal tender.

Meanwhile, the police have formed a special investigation team under deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Rahul Dev to probe into the case. “The CCTV footage shows the burglers with covered faces,” Dev said.

This is the second big theft in Haryana within one week. Earlier on Saturday, unidentified burglars had decamped with Rs 81.46 lakh in defunct currency from a Punjab National Bank branch in Rewari.

MORE SUCH INCIDENTS

Nine employees of a security agency, who took out Rs 3.92 crore in old notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 from various ATMs (automated teller machines) in Ludhiana, a day after the Centre’s demonetisation move was announced on November 8, went missing.

The police arrested an army jawan, along with a dismissed soldier, November 21 for looting Rs 7 lakh in scrapped currency from a hosiery owner. The police recovered Rs 6.30 lakh from the possession of the accused, besides an air gun and scooter used in the crime committed on November 19.

Amid the cash crunch due to demonetisation, two masked men looted Rs 5.31 lakh from a post office at Dhotian village, 18 km from here, on November 21. The cash comprised banned currency notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500, deposited by people for exchange. This was the total amount of money the post office staff exchanged since Monday morning.