Demonetisation: Schoolboy sets bank on fire in Madhya Pradesh after failing to steal new currencies

BHOPAL: As scrapped currencies continue to lead angry lines at ATMs in Madhya Pradesh, a 17-year-old school student set afire a nationalised bank in state’s Balaghat district after he failed to steal valid notes on Wednesday morning.
The accused was caught by the police from inside the bank’s toilet. Bank authorities came to know about the incident at around 4 am after being alerted by a local resident.He has been charged with sections for theft and other sections. On Tuesday evening when bank officials were busy exchanging scrapped currencies, he went inside the bank’s toilet and remained there till the shutter was downed for the day. After 11.30 pm, he came out and conducted a frantic search. He also tried to open the vault, but to no avail.
At around 2 am, he set the bank on fire causing major damages to records and documents inside manager’s chamber. He went back to the toilet after that. Investigators believe he wanted to destroy CCTV cameras and footages to clean the evidences. He is being interrogated for more details, said police, adding, he is a student of Class 12 and his parents are teachers in a government school. They too were shocked by his endeavour. CCTV footages have been seized for further investigations.
Youth kills self
Earlier on Saturday, a 21-year-old youth had entered a nationalised bank in Satna district, but allegedly committed suicide after local residents raised an alarm and gathered outside the bank to catch him. The deceased was identified as Dharmendra Singh Patel. He had cut open the shutters of Allahabad Bank. As he tried to break open the bank's vault chest, the landlord of the building living upstairs woke up and raised alarm. Several local residents swung into action and surrounded the bank with iron rods and canes.
Later, when police reached the spot and opened the shutter, he was found hanging. CCTV footage revealed that Patel was trying to commit robbery. He panicked after being surrounded by residents and committed suicide. Police are still investigating the case.