In a daring broad daylight heist, armed miscreants looted over Rs13 lakh of cash and one kg of gold ornaments from the UCO Bank’s Bapuji Nagar branch here on Wednesday morning.
A five-member gang entered the bank shortly after it opened for the day and threatened the staffs and customers at gunpoint before grabbing the strong room keys from the bank’s branch manager.
“Around Rs13 lakh cash and some gold jewellery were taken away by the dacoits. The incident took place between 9.30 am and 10.30 am. Five armed miscreants were seen by people,” said Commissioner of Police YB Khurania.
Khurania said that from the preliminary investigation it was revealed that the five miscreants entered the bank posing them as customers. There was no security guard at the bank, and the alarm system apparently could not be pressed in time, said Khurania. Bank branch manager Abhimanyu Behera said that though the bank has CCTV cameras, the hard disk appeared to have been taken away by the dacoits.
Khurania said special teams were formed as part of efforts to nab the miscreants. Meanwhile, a scientific squad thoroughly examined the bank site.
The miscreants, who were speaking in Hindi, threatened and physically assaulted some of the bank staffs and customers, said the bank manager.
“Everything happened within no time. Before we could alert the police, they fled by a car,” he said. The scientific team seized a live cartridge from the spot. The incident has posed a challenge for the Commissionerate police with the Durga Puja just a few days away. The fresh bank heist came seven days after miscreants looted Rs40 lakh from the Bank of Baroda’s Bargargh branch on September 20.