THE USUALLY quiet community of Mon Repos on the East Coast of Demerara was shattered Friday afternoon during a daring daylight armed robbery at the Bank of Baroda branch located at Mon Repos Mall in First Street.Police in ‘C’ Division are hunting four men, who escaped in a waiting car after carting off an undisclosed sum of money.
Reports say that the bandits had been observed in the area of the bank Friday morning before the actual robbery. With facial disguises, they descended on the bank and held up the staff and a few customers.
This newspaper understands that the men had apparently received word that a large sum had been deposited in the bank earlier Friday morning.
Police reported that at about 12:50hrs, four men, one of whom was armed with a firearm, entered the Bank of Baroda Inc at Mon Repos, ECD, and held up the lone female private security guard on duty and took away her .32 service revolver.
During the incident, which lasted about five minutes, the men then held up the two female tellers and took away an undisclosed amount of cash, escaping in a waiting white Premio motor vehicle bearing false registration plate PNN 8984, police added.
The police quickly responded to the robbery report and strategic road blocks were established and anti-crime patrols were alerted. Crime Intelligence Units have also been activated.
Meanwhile, ‘C’ Division Commander Marlon Chapman who was on the scene Friday afternoon, told reporters that he could not divulge much since the investigation was an active one.
Mr Chapman noted that although footage from surveillance cameras was being reviewed, he could not say if it was of good quality.
Bank of Baroda Inc Mon Repos branch was established a few years ago at the location and provides service on a five-day-per- week basis, but not an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) service.
The building itself is outfitted with surveillance cameras both inside and outside. The amount of money stolen was not disclosed.

Michel Outridge