

NOIDA: Apparently bitten by poverty, an amateur thief broke into a bank in Noida's Sector 6 late Sunday night, but his maiden crime bid turned out to be unsuccessful as he failed to locate the strongroom and the vault.

However, he left an emotional letter for the bank manager, saying that he was forced to take to crime so as to feed his family as he has been sacked from his job in a private company.

"I lost my job in a private company. I have a family and children. It is very difficult to maintain family due to price rise and inflation. This was my first attempt to rob the bank and I failed," the thief confessed in his letter.

Police said that the thief broke into the Sector 6 branch of the Canara Bank, situated in front of the Noida Authority office, armed with sophisticated tools and instruments; it seemed that he had searched the bank premises but failed to locate the strongroom and the safe.

Vijay Dhul, circle officer (City I), said that the bank officials found the door locks broken when they came for duty on Mondau morning, and then informed the cops.

"We found that the locks were broken. We searched the strongroom and found that it was untouched and money was safe. The thief did not damage any computer or stole any valuables," he said, adding that forensic experts also chipped in to help in the probe.

However, he left behind two bags full of tools and iron rod cutters in the bank. As the bank premise was being renovated, the CCTV cameras installed were not functional, the cops said. A case has been registered in Sector 20 police station. But, no arrest has yet been made.

