Man held over Baroda bank robbery

One person is currently in custody in connection with last Friday’s armed robbery of the Bank of Baroda branch at Mon Repos and Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum says investigators are searching for the man suspected to have led the attack.

Stabroek News understands that the man in custody was arrested at Meadow Brook on Friday afternoon and he was being questioned up to yesterday afternoon.

However, Blanhum said investigators managed to identify the suspected ringleader and conducted a search at his house in Georgetown but he was not found. The man was charged previously with illegal possession of firearm and ammunition.

The police, in a statement on the attack, had said that four men, one of whom was armed with a gun, entered the bank and held up the lone female private security guard on duty and took away her .32 service revolver. During the attack, which occurred around 12.50pm on Friday and lasted for about five minutes, the men held up two female tellers and took away an undisclosed amount of cash before escaping in a waiting silver grey/off white Premio bearing false registration plate PNN 8984.

The attack was captured on a CCTV camera which monitors the building.

One businessman had related to this newspaper that he saw the car circling the area before the robbery. He said the men escaped in a waiting car, which was parked along the street and which was driven by a fifth person.

The Mon Repos branch of the India-headquartered bank is located in the lower flat of a mini shopping mall just behind the village’s market.