Bank robber flees with loads of cash in ex-Soviet Georgia
Georgian police gather at a bank where an armed assailant took several people hostage in the town of Zugdidi in western Georgia, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020. An armed assailant took several people hostage at a bank in the ex-Soviet nation of Georgia on Wednesday, authorities said. The Georgian Interior Ministry didn't immediately say how many people have been taken hostage in the town of Zugdidi in western Georgia, or what demands the assailant has made. Police sealed off the area and launched an operation "to neutralize the assailant," the ministry said in a statement.[AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze]
Police in the ex-Soviet republic of Georgia were looking Thursday for a bank robber who held over 40 people hostage for hours before releasing them and escaping with the money given to him by authorities.
An armed man took bank employees and customers hostage in the town of Zugdidi in western Georgia on Wednesday, demanding $500,000 in cash. After authorities provided him with an undisclosed amount of cash and a car that he wanted, the assailant freed most of the hostages and drove away with three remaining captives.
The man freed them overnight in a forested area and disappeared.
Speaking during Thursday’s government meeting, Georgia’s prime minister, Giorgi Gakharia, urged police to quickly track the assailant down, adding that "there must be no illusion that a crime can go unpunished."