A suspect was arrested soon after a man staged a bank robbery near the Victory Monument with a fake hand grenade and made off with 55,760 baht on Sunday night, police said.
Pol Lt Pichetsak Piyaratsathit, an investigator at Bang Khen police station, said the robbery took place at about 7.40 pm when the suspect, who was later identified as Chaiyan Malithong, 40, broke into the Bangkok Bank, Big C Extra branch near the Victory Monument in Bang Khen area.
A bank teller said the man walked straight to a counter he was sitting and handed him a piece of paper with a note that read, “Put money in the bag, after that I will leave. I have a grenade.” He then handed the teller a plastic bag.
The teller said the man was holding a round object wrapped with black adhesive tape, with an iron piece which looked like a lever protruding. Out of fear, he put 55,760 baht from the drawer into the bag, said the teller.
A bank customer who witnessed the incident shouted for help, prompting the man to flee. But he was intercepted almost immediately by a group of people at the scene and handed over to the police. The object he was holding was found to be a fake grenade.
