Burglars target banks in Madurai, Nellai too

MADURAI: Close on the heels of the burglary at a Chennai bank, robbery attempts were reported at two banks, one  each in Madurai and Tirunelveli on Wednesday night, taking the total number of such incidents in the Southern districts in the last 30 days to four. On Wednesday night, burglars broke open the rear door of the SS Colony branch of the Bank of Baroda in Madurai. They, however, made away only with two computer hard disks and two monitors.At the Pandyan Grama Bank at Samugarengapuram near Radhapuram in Tirunelveli district, the burglars broke open the lock of the iron grill and wooden door and disconnected the power supply before attempting to break open the locker.  The police were helpless in both the cases as authorities of both the banks had neither installed CCTV cameras in the banks nor appointed security guards.“Despite Police Commissioner P Kannappan sending a written communication to 183 banks in Madurai asking them to install CCTV cameras immediately after the bank robbery at Chennai, only 83 banks have followed the directions, while the rest, including the Bank of Baroda at SS Colony haven’t installed CCTV cameras,” R Thirunavukkarasu, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), Madurai saidIn Tirunelveli district, though a robbery attempt was made at the Mela Seval branch of the Pandyan Grama Bank last year, the bank authorities have failed to wake up to the incident.On Wednesday night, a retired teacher Murugan (66), who had rented out the first floor of his house to the Pandyan Grama Bank at Samugarengapuram near Radhapuram, woke up after hearing strange noises near the house. When he stepped out, he found two unidentified men sitting at the entrance of the bank.When he enquired with them, the duo told him that they had come to the temple opposite the bank. Murugan later discovered that the robbers had locked the main door of his house from outside to prevent him from stepping outside. He then alerted the police, who rushed to the spot. However, the burglars had failed in their bid to rob the bank.Police said that around `4 crore worth gold ornaments and `7 lakh in cash were deposited in the bank. Tirunelveli Superintendent of Police Vijayendra S Bidari told Express that two special teams had been formed to nab the accused. “We have got major clues, will nab the accused soon,” he added.In January, there were robbery attempts at banks in Anna Nagar, Madurai, and at Gopalpatti near Dindigul.