Taking advantage of lack of security at the banks, looters have found them to be soft targets and have been looting crores of rupees. The authorities seem to have not learnt any lesson and taken preventive steps despite a number of bank loots being regularly reported from different parts of the State.
On Saturday, five unidentified armed miscreants looted Rs 5 lakh and jewellery from an Indian Bank branch in Angul town after terrorising the staffs at gunpoint. As per eyewitness accounts, five masked miscreants barged into the branch at the bustling Harimahuri Square at around 10.30 am. They brandished guns and asked the Branch Manage to open the strong room. As he offered resistance, the looters thrashed him mercilessly and snatched away the mobile phones of all the staffs as well as some customers, who were present in the bank. The looters grabbed cash along with gold and silver jewelleries from the bank’s lockers and fled from the spot in a flash.
While the incident lasted for around 15 minutes, police rushed to the spot immediately and started investigation. Police has also sealed all the roads connecting the town and frisking all vehicles to prevent looters from sneaking into the neighbouring districts, said Range DIG Narsingh Bhol ,who also rushed to the spot.
Earlier, a group of miscreants had looted Rs 33 lakh and jewellery from the Andhra Bank branch located at Angul Bazar Square on April 7, 2018 in a similar manner.