At gun-point, Vasai bank robber fumbles on the big heist

The 43-year-old thief was coincidentally discovered by two bank employees, who had entered the premises to do some clearing work even though it was a holiday. Recalls the peon, Prashant Madhale: “I had accompanied one of the officers to the bank as we had come to do some clearing work. When we entered, we noticed that the door to the room housing the safe was open. We immediately locked the bank and went out to call the manager.”

They said Dhawan had come to the bank on Sunday to update his account. Along with his papers, he had also smuggled in a bagful of “break-in tools”, a rope and five small bags to stash his booty. When the bank shut for the day, Dhawan managed to hide himself inside and knowing that the next day was a holiday, he spent the night there.

When Madhale and officer Rajan Coutinho walked in at 10 am today, they knew something was amiss. Fifteen minutes later, the manager, George Anthony Welso, arrived at the bank and seeing the safe room open, went to the police station and filed a complaint. Dhawan, in the meantime, had locked himself in one of the rooms.

Investigating Officer S B Jagdale of the Manickpura police station told Newsline: “By the time we broke into the room where Dhawan had been hiding, he locked himself in another room. He was armed with a rifle and we called for back-up.” While reinforcements were on their way, Dhawan had tried to drill his way past the window grill. When the girder would not give way, he tried his luck at the door, hoping he could get out before police broke in. All he managed were a few scratches on the woodwork before the police arrived.

Finally, Dhawan did succeed in drilling a hole in the door, even if only by accident: the wood was punctured when he shot at the police, who had fired three warning shots before storming in. Dhawan, wounded in the leg, was finally arrested in a drama never before witnessed in a Vasai bank.

Shaken but relieved, bank officials say all the money in the vault is intact. “We caught him before he got to the cash,” says Coutinho. “Nothing has been taken. Thankfully, it was a holiday.”