Robbers flee with RM500,000 from security van

Police are puzzled why the van was parked some distance away and not in front of the bank.

GEORGE TOWN: Despite security guards firing five shots at two fleeing robbers, they managed to escape with a sack containing RM500,000 from a security van parked some distance from a bank in Bayan Baru near here yesterday.

It is believed the shots fired by the security guards injured one of the robbers in the 11am incident.

While one of the robbers escaped on a motorcycle, the other fled from the scene in the direction of a residential area.

Penang CID chief Mazlan Kesah said due to fear of being shot at, the robbers, one of whom was armed with a pistol, only managed to escape with one sack filled with RM500,000 while another bag with RM300,000 was left on the roadside.

“The man who was waiting on a motorcycle sped away, leaving his injured accomplice behind. The accomplice fled across the road and headed for a residential area,” he told reporters in George Town.

He urged clinics and hospitals to alert the police if anyone sought treatment for a gunshot wound in the leg.

Meanwhile, Mazlan said the police were puzzled why the van was parked some distance away, when it should have been in front of the bank.

He said the police would record statements from the four security guards and bank staff who were on duty during the robbery.

During the robbery, one of the robbers was said to have kicked a security guard’s legs before snatching two bags of money.

– BERNAMA