Robbers break into United Bank of India, Khanpur branch

A gang of robbers was good enough to get into a bank in Neb Sarai late Thursday night but not good enough to get into the bank’s lockers.

Police said the robbers got through one wall and one iron grill while the city celebrated the New Year. A case of attempted burglary has been registered at Neb Sarai police station, although bank officials say nothing valuable was taken. The only damage bank officials found when they reported to work the following morning was one half-burnt door and a few burnt pieces of paper.

According to police, the break-in took place at about 3.15 am. The attempted burglary was found out by officials of United Bank of India, Khanpur branch, when they reported to work Friday morning.

The bank has two entrances. The robbers tried to get in from the rear entrance.

They first dug out a portion of the wall around the back door, then broke an iron grill and the door. Inside, they tried to get past another door by setting it on fire. After about an hour of trying to bring down the door, they gave up and melted away, a senior police officer stated.

The bank is on the ground floor, its lockers in the basement. Senior police officers said there are CCTV cameras in the bank but they were of no help because the would-be robbers had cut the camera wires before sneaking into the bank.

A bank employee said, ‘‘We reported to work at about 9.15 am and found the back door broken. There was smoke inside and we found several burnt pieces of paper lying about.”

The bank manager, despite repeated attempts, could not be contacted. Bank officials also refused to say whether any valuables were missing from the bank or not. ‘‘Bank officials so far have not given us any list of stolen items but we are still investigating whether any valuables are missing or not,” said a police officer.

Though no arrests have been made so far, police suspect the involvement of the same gang that is active in the Sarojini Nagar and Kotla Mubarakpur areas and who burn down their targets after they have burgled them.

Joint Commissioner of Police, southern range, Ajai Kashyap said they are working on the case. ‘‘Though there are no clues yet in the case, we are probing it further from all possible angles.”