TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Dozens of safe deposit boxes were robbed after burglars cut through the wall of a bank from a neighboring building in Iran’s capital, state TV reported Monday.
The report said several bandits took advantage of a three-day holiday in Iran to break into a major branch of the government-owned Bank Melli Iran and rob 250 boxes. Safe deposit facilities are underground in many banks in Tehran.
The report did not say what items were stolen from the boxes or how much the haul totaled. No additional details were provided.
The bank in a statement acknowledged the incident but said it caused “limited damages.”
The semiofficial Mehr news agency reported that an alarm went off, triggering an automatic alert that was sent to the branch’s manager. However, he ignored the alarm because in the past he had received false alarms, the news agency reported.
Mehr said the alarm system was not set up to alert police.
The robbers also stole surveillance cameras and other monitoring items from the bank, which is located on one of Tehran’s major streets near Tehran University and in walking distance of a police station.
Police said several suspects, including some bank staffers, are under investigation.
Robbery of governmental banks is rare in Iran.
