NEW DELHI: Three persons have been arrested from Nathu Colony Chowk in Mansarovar Park after a failed robbery bid on a private bank in northeast Delhi. The lure of lucre to splurge on girlfriends and lead a luxurious life led the three persons - a post-graduate and two studying in colleges - down the path of crime.

Those arrested have been identified as Bobby Tomar, 30, an MA in political science, and two business management students - Kamal Panchal, 22, and Ashok Nagar, 18. They were arrested on Tuesday while fleeing after their plans to rob Muthoot Finance Corporation ran into rough weather.

The three youths had entered the bank in the evening and one of them pointed a pistol at the manager asking him for the keys of the lockers, but the manager raised an alarm following which the robbers panicked and fled.

"The manager followed them and shouted for help. The police, who were patrolling the area, managed to apprehend them along with arms and ammunition," said BS Jaiswal, deputy commissioner of police (northeast).

The youths told the police they knew each other for a long time as they hailed from the same locality and had a similar background. "Tomar is the mastermind. He planned to rob Muthoot Financial Corporation after a spate of recent robberies took place at its various branches, as these banks are soft-targets. Having surveyed the bank several times he found it had less staff and customers as compared to other banks.

"He also found there was no CCTV installed at the bank and a large quantity of cash and gold may be easily available there," Jaiswal said. He roped in his friends, who are students, and procured country-made pistols from western UP before setting out to rob the bank, he said.

"Tomar has two girlfriends and in order to impress them, he wanted to make a quick buck. Of late, he was unemployed and facing a financial crunch. The two students came in his influence, as he used to boast of his contacts at the university.

"Influenced by his ideas and the lure of easy money, both of them agreed to be part of the plan," Jaiswal said. Tomar has an MA in political science from Chaudhary Charan Singh University . He has an elder brother who is working at a sugar mill in Modi Nagar.

Panchal's father is into manufacturing cooker parts while Malik's father is into garment business.

