IPOH, Dec 24 — A man wearing a helmet and believed to be armed with a pistol held a woman hostage before fleeing a bank near Bulatan Silibin with about RM 28,000 here this afternoon.

Perak criminal investigation department deputy chief ACP Zaihairul Idrus said police received information about the incident at about 4pm.

"The suspect is believed to have entered the bank through the automatic teller machine  (ATM) door before heading to the counter and pointed a pistol at one of the customers in the bank, threatening the staff to place money into a bag he had with him,” he told reporters at the location.

He said the suspect who was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and a full-face helmet later escaped with the bag full of money towards a waiting car outside the bank’s premises.

"No shots were fired and the incident happened very fast, in a matter of about four minutes,” he said.

Zaihairul said early investigations found that during the incident, there were three customers in the bank while the security guard was in the office area.

He said the victim who was held hostage, was in her 50s, and did not incur any injuries but was traumatised by the incident and has been taken to the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital here for treatment as she had heart problems.

He said police were tracking down the suspect and one other person who was believed to be the driver of the car which was waiting outside the bank to help the suspect escape.

"Anyone with information connected to the incident is urged to come forward to the police to help in the investigations,” he said.          

He added that further investigations were being conducted including viewing the closed-circuit television recording in the bank. — Bernama