ANAKAPALLE: In a daring instance of daylight robbery, a cashier of the Andhra Pradesh Grameena Vikas Bank was robbed of 3.3 lakh at gunpoint inside the bank branch at Narasingabilli under Kasimkota mandal in Anakapalle district on Saturday.
An armed man wearing a helmet and his face covered with a mask entered the bank on Saturday afternoon. He went straight to the cashier's cabin, beat and threatened to shoot him when he tried to raise an alarm. He ordered the cashier to fill the cash in a bag.
The cashier loaded over 3.3 lakh cash and handed the bag to the armed man, who then fled from the spot.
The robber was in and out in less than two minutes. There were three employees in the bank and no customers at the time of the incident. People outside the bank were unaware that it had been robbed until police jeeps started pulling up in front of the building.
Locals said the bank has no armed guard as it is a small branch and sees few transactions.
They added that the robber entered the bank as a customer and committed the crime within a few minutes. Another man waited outside on a bike while the crime was committed.
Anakapalle police chief Gowthami Sali along with a team visited the spot. "We are investigating the case from various angles to identify the robber," she added.
Police suspect the accused might be from north India as he spoke in Hindi. They are examining CCTV footage at the bank and nearby locations to identify and nab the accused.
This is the first robbery at gunpoint in a bank in the region in recent months.
