Guard shot, Rs6.5 lakh looted from UCO Bank

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, October 15

Four armed assailants today shot a UCO Bank branch guard and robbed Rs 6.5 lakh in cash at Kalra village in Adampur here today.

As the armed men, who came on a motorbike and an Activa scooter, walked up to the bank manager, guard Surinder Singh approached them and an altercation ensued. Surinder, an ex-serviceman, was overpowered by three of them, who snatched his rifle and shot him before fleeing with Rs 6.5 lakh from the bank.

A case under Sections 302 (murder) and 399 (commit dacoity) of the IPC and 25 (bring/taking out of arms) and 54 (possession of prohibited weapon) of the Arms Act has been registered against the four, who are at large.

The CCTV footage of the incident showed four masked men inside the bank, with one pointing a gun at visitors and bank staff. The guard’s turban came off as he attempted to fight off the assailants.

“The guard tried to thwart the robbery right till the end. They opened fire, killing him on the spot,” said the SHO, Adampur police station. The police said one shot was fired at Surinder in the chest.

The SHO said the CCTV footage of the bank and the road was being scoured. Sources, however, said the CCTV camera outside the bank entrance was not functional.

Adampur DSP Harinder Singh said: “Surinder’s body had been sent for postmortem. He was found in a pool of blood. The guard approached the men when he heard them shouting at the manager. On seeing his rifle, they overpowered him and killed him.”

He said the CCTV camera outside the bank was functional but was obstructed by a flex board. “We have the requisite footage,” he added.

SSP (Rural) Sandeep Kumar Garg said: “A case had been registered against the suspects. We are looking at several leads.”

Family planned moving to US

Surinder Singh, 50, had served as a jawan in the Army for 35 years. He had been employed at the UCO Bank branch for the past eight years. His family was planning to shift to the US this year but was stuck due to the lockdown.