A lone burglar, late on Sunday night, managed to gain access into the Maloya branch of Punjab National Bank but failed to break into the strongroom, instead later choosing to flee with three CPUs, some monitors, around half a dozen keyboard and some other computer accessories. According to the police, the burglar — who was wearing a hooded sweatshirt — was captured on one of the CCTv cameras installed within the premises. Surprisingly, the bank branch had no night guard on duty and much to the surprise of everyone, none of the alarms installed inside the bank were tripped, the police have found. The preliminary investigation of the police so far have determined that the man entered the bank around 11.30 pm on Sunday after breaking one of the corners of a temporary shed over the bank. According to CCTV camera footage, the burglar stayed inside teh bank for more than one hour after breaking in. The theft came to light on Monday morning when the bank staff came to work and found their PCs missing. They immediately called the branch manager, Jagdeep Singh, who in turn informed the police control room. Senior police officer DSP (southwest), Charanjit Singh Virk, and a team later arrived at the spot and started a probe. A police officer said, "Apparently the burglar had managed to reach the strongroom. But when he was trying to gain access into the strongroom, an electric wire snapped. We presume that he feared being electrocuted from the snapped wire and abandoned his plan there to break into the strongroom." The PNB, Maloya, Branch Manager, Jagdeep Singh, said, "I have to check why the security alarm system in our bank did not detect the intruder. The man managed to flee with many electronic items — including CPU, monitors, keyboards. Our cash safe and lockers are intact." A forensics team later also visisted the branch and inspected it for clues. Sources said that a few impressions of the hands and feet of the suspect were lifted from the spot. DSP (South-West), Charanjit Singh Virk, said, "We will write a letter to the PNB management urging them to depute a night guard for the safety of their bank. Efforts are being made to identify the suspect, who was captured on the CCTV camera". A case was registered at Maloya police station.
