Two brothers from Lod who are senior employees of Israel Railways were arrested on Saturday on suspicion of taking part in an armed robbery of a colleague.
The manager of train conductors and a Rishon Lezion train station manager plotted to rob an Israel Railways employee tasked with collecting ticket sales revenue from stations across the country and transporting the cash to head office, police said.
On Friday morning, the targeted employee went on his usual cash collection round, and arrived at Tel Aviv's Savidor Central Station to complete his circuit. As the employee sat in his car waiting to receive the station's revenues, a suspect brandishing a knife entered the vehicle and demanded that he hand over a cash-filled bag.
The alarmed employee leapt out of his vehicle, and the suspect snatched the bag, before fleeing the scene in a Mazda. According to eyewitness reports, he was accompanied by a second suspect who was likely the getaway driver.
Bystanders spotted the incident unfolding and jotted down the license plate number of the suspect vehicle.
Police launched a search for the getaway car, pulling over a car in Lod which matched the description and arresting the two brothers.
The wife of one of the suspects was also arrested, on suspicion of abetting the suspects to plan out the robbery.
The suspects were scheduled to appear in court on Saturday evening for an arraignment hearing.
Israel Railways said it was "studying the details of this incident."
