Police said the accused was wearing a helmet,  armed with a knife, spoke Hindi, and stole money from the cash counter of a Federal Bank branch in Chalakudy

A MAN robbed a bank at knifepoint near Chalakudy in central Kerala in broad daylight on Friday (14) and fled with around ₹1.5 million (£13,745.27) in cash, police said.

A senior district police officer told reporters that the accused, armed with a knife, spoke Hindi, and stole money from the ₹4.7 million kept in bundles at the cash counter.

The officer said that the police had determined the direction in which the accused fled and that steps had been taken to nab him.

Another senior police officer told reporters that speaking Hindi does not necessarily mean the man is not a Malayali.

“It could be a tactic to mislead,” the police officer said.

He also said that a Special Investigation Team has been constituted to probe the case.

“The primary objective is to catch the culprit. Whether there were adequate security measures in place at the bank is secondary, which can be gone into later,” he said.

An official from the Chalakudy police station said they received a call in the afternoon from the Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) about the heist.

A team was immediately dispatched to the Federal Bank branch in Potta, near Chalakudy, police said.

They added that efforts were underway to identify the robber, as he was wearing a helmet while perpetrating the crime.

CCTV footage of the robbery aired on TV channels showed the alleged robber arriving on a scooter with a bag on his back, wearing a helmet, a jacket and gloves.

Footage from inside the bank showed the alleged robber locking some staff members inside a room before forcefully breaking into the cash counter and filling his bag with the money. (PTI)