Bhubaneswar, Sept. 7: Police today arrested a 53-year-old man who was caught while trying to flee after robbing the main branch of State Bank of India here of Rs 3 lakh.

This branch of the SBI is located near Capital police station.

The suspect, Sanmugam Sunderam who hails from Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu, was caught by the bank’s security guards and customers as he ran towards the exit gate of the bank with the cash. However, his three accomplices managed to escape.

The incident took place around 11.40am when the bank was crowded with customers. The accused somehow managed to go behind counter No. 4 where a woman employee was engaged in making cash transactions. As he did so, his three associates stood in front of the counter and one of them tried to divert her attention by asking her questions.

The man grabbed the cash kept near the woman on the counter and began running towards the exit. He was chased and caught. “We saw a man running towards the exit gate and we ran after him. Some of the customers and the bank’s guards caught him,” said Banambar Sahu, an eyewitness.

Policemen from Capital Police Station rushed to the spot upon getting information, arrested the man and recovered the cash from him. The cops also took the bank’s CCTV footage for examination. Sources said the footage revealed that the main accused and his accomplices had been visiting the bank for the past four days.

“They knew that the bank would be crowded today as the next three days are holidays. They took advantage of this,” said a police officer.

Bank officials refused to comment on the incident.