Police are hunting a suspect who snatched cash totalling Rs. 35 million from staff of a state bank in Horana on Wednesday afternoon, in what NewsFirst described as a “shocking daylight robbery.”
Police Spokesman SSP F.U. Wootler said the incident took place at around 2.45 pm when bank staff brought two bags of cash out of the branch to transport them to two separate state bank branches.
“A suspect who had arrived on foot suddenly approached and managed to grab both bags containing the money,” police told NewsFirst. The suspect then fled the scene with the cash.
Newswire, which also reported the incident citing Horana police, said the cash was being moved between state bank branches when “an individual stole the bag and fled the area.” A police investigation is underway.
The robbery is one of the largest single-incident cash snatches reported in recent months. Sri Lanka’s banking sector has been under sustained scrutiny following the Rs.13.2 billion NDB fraud disclosure and the Treasury US$2.5 million email-fraud breach earlier this year.
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