Chennai bank robberies: Top 10 facts

Chennai: Five men who were allegedly involved in two bank robberies in Chennai earlier this year were killed in an encounter with police early on Thursday morning. But human rights activists have raised questions over the killings. Here are top 10 facts on the case.

1) Two daring daylight bank robberies were reported from Chennai earlier this year. The first incident happened on January 23, when four armed men stormed the Bank of Baroda branch near Perungudi and escaped with Rs. 19 lakh.

2) Less than month later on February 20, another bank robbery took place in the city. This time the target was a branch of public sector Indian Overseas Bank at Keelkattalai located on city outskirts. Four armed men looted Rs. 14 lakh from here.

3) Both the branches had no security cameras installed. But police obtained a picture of one of the suspects, who they believed was the kingpin behind the bank robberies, from the CCTV footage of another bank. He had reportedly gone there to conduct a recce for another armed robbery.

4) Yesterday, the Chennai Police released the video footage of the suspect and announced a reward of Rs. 1 lakh for anyone who could provide information about him.

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5) Acting on a tip-off, a police team surrounded a house in Vandikaran Street in Velachery around 1 am today and asked the suspects to come out, a police official said. The suspects did not follow orders and opened fire instead, he added. The police say they retaliated "to save innocent lives". Two inspectors and the five suspects were injured in the ensuing encounter. On being brought to hospital, the suspects were declared dead. (Read: Five suspects killed in encounter)

6) Chennai Police Commissioner JK Tripathy said eyewitnesses have confirmed that these men looted the two banks.

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7) Chennai Police claims to have recovered 14 lakh rupees allegedly looted at gun point from the banks earlier this year. Pistols and weapons in possession of the armed robbers have also been seized, it added.

8) Out of the five men killed in the encounter, four are said to be from Bihar and one from West Bengal. According to some reports, one of them is an engineering student. Human rights activists have slammed the Chennai Police and have termed the encounter "a murder."

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9) Just a few days ago, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had told the police to "treat dacoits with iron fists".

10) Of the 1,300 odd bank branches in the city, around 420 lack security features such as CCTV and guards. Police have instructed banks to comply with all mandated safety requirements, Commissioner of Police JK Tripathy said.

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