A five-member gang looted Rs 3.74 lakh from the cash counter of the State Bank of India’s Ambegaon Budruk branch on Wednesday afternoon.

According to the police, the gang reached the bank in an Esteem car (MH 04 AH 3925), suspected to be stolen from Mumbai, around 1.45 pm. As there were no security guards at the bank, they entered the premises unchallenged, armed with two pistols and a sharp weapon, and snatched Rs 3.74 lakh in cash from Madhuri Misal, a woman employee at the cash counter.

Bank manager Shital Wadvekar locked herself in the bathroom and screamed for help through the window. The robbers broke the glass of a window of the bathroom before fleeing with the cash. Police said they were inside the bank for less than 15 minutes. Besides Wadvekar and Misal, a peon — Kisan Kedekar — and two customers were present at the bank during the incident.

The staff informed the police after the robbers left. Police teams led by inspector Satish Patil of Haveli police station, inspector Bhausaheb Andhalkar of the crime branch of Pune rural police and inspector Ram Jadhav of the anti-dacoity squad of Pune city police reached the bank and recorded the statements of the staff and other eyewitnesses. Wadvekar later lodged a formal complaint with the Haveli police. Police said the robbers did not wear any mask or cover their faces; one of them was fat and the others slim. They suspect that the robbers belong to a Mumbai-based gang.

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