It all started with Papa writing down a cheque for Mummy for household expenses. My mother argued that she could not leave me alone at home to encash the cheque. So Papa told her to take me to bank as it would be nice for me to see the workings of a real bank. That’s how mother and I stood in front of the massive entrance of Standard Chartered Bank at eleven in the morning. Seeing the crowd, my mother said it was ‘peak hour’ meaning most people come to get their work done during this hour.
I was overwhelmed as it was my first time in the bank. It would be a perfect adventure to recount to my friends in class. We entered and stood in queue in front of a counter. There were several counters and the bank tellers were counting money and handing over to the customer. I held my tiny hand in my mother’s hand and stood still looking with curiosity at the milling crowd. The air was chilled because of the air conditioning.
Suddenly the doors swung open and three men in black entered. They had their faces covered with stockings. They had guns in their hand. One of them shot the two guards in the knee and shouted a warning that anyone moving will be shot in the chest. I was petrified. Mummy pulled me towards her. One of the men commanded all the customers to come to the well of the house and sit with head down.
We did as ordered.
I could see from the corner of my eyes that one man was left to guard us while the other two went to the manager’s chamber and forced him to hand over the keys to the vault. The other man was gathering notes in huge holdall. The vault too was emptied.
One man who had tried to act smart by begging to go to the bathroom was smacked and hit with the butt of the pistol. He fainted and slumped on the ground.
The looting over, the three rushed out to the waiting black van across the road. The police had gathered because the siren had sounded. A shot rang. The police man had shot one of the robbers but they managed to drive away. An ambulance arrived to take the guards to the hospital. The customer who had fainted was revived with sugared lemon water. My mother held my hands and rushed out in panic. She wanted to reach home safely. She was trembling with fear and muttering a prayer.
After a fortnight, Papa showed us a news report telling that the police had caught the robbers and the loot because the notes were marked and also the security camera had caught one of the men’s face. He had been identified. Papa declared that the police could do anything if it wanted.
A daylight bank robbery
23 Thursday Apr 2015
Posted Uncategorized
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