By Herbert Ssempogo

GUARDS deployed at the Bank of Baroda head office in Kampala on Monday night turned their guns on officials, making off with sh320m they grabbed from the strongroom.

The 9:00pm robbery, according to Kampala Extra police spokesman, Simeo Nsubuga, occurred as the bank officials wound up the day’s activities.

Nsubuga identified the guards, currently on the run, as John Aroch and Sam Metha. They were deployed at the bank about a month ago.

An official narrated that the robbery occurred as a team of four, escorted by Metha and Aroch, stashed the money in a safe in the bank’s basement.

The four, who included the chief cashier and the chief accountant, had just put the money in the safe when a masked, armed guard stormed inside.

“We asked him whether there was a problem,” the official recounted, adding that the guard instead gave them three orders: to lie on the floor, hand over cell phones and avoid moving.

“The second guard came in and took our phones. They stepped on our heads so that we would not get up as they collected the money.”

In the confusion that ensued, the cashier reportedly hid behind the door of the safe from where he later emerged to rescue his colleagues. One of the guards whipped out a black polythene bag in which they dropped the money, which was in the denominations of sh50,000.

“As they retreated, they warned us against raising an alarm. We were locked in a corridor leading to the strongroom,” the official said.

It is believed the robbers shared the money in the banking hall before leaving the premises via the back door where they inadvertently dropped sh5m, which is said to have been recovered.

Nsubuga said the men abandoned two guns containing seven rounds of ammunition each before disappearing into the darkness. The guns were recovered and taken to the Central Police Station in Kampala.

Preliminary information, according to Nsubuga, showed that the guards had a getaway car.

This brings the number of bank theft cases to three in one month.