GURDASPUR Three unidentified people on Wednesday looted ₹5.5 lakh in cash at gunpoint from a branch of the Gurdaspur Central Cooperative Bank in Ruliana village, 25 km from the district headquarters. The branch doesn’t have security guard, it is learnt.
Police said the incident took place around 11:40am when two of the three miscreants barged into the bank on the village’s outskirts, took the staff at gunpoint and decamped with the cash mentioned above.
At the time of the incident, cashier Sudarshan Chand and another employee Gurpreet Singh were present at the branch. “Two men with their faces covered entered the bank while their accomplice waited outside. After shaking hands with Gurpreet, the accused pointed pistols at us and asked to hand over the cash,” said the cashier.
“When we told them that there was no cash in the bank, they threatened to shoot us. We gave them ₹5.5 lakh. Before leaving the spot, the accused also took away our mobile phones and threatened to kill us if we complained to the police.”
He said the peon was out of the bank for some work. “When the peon returned, we reported the incident to the police and the village’s sarpanch,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}He said the peon was out of the bank for some work. “When the peon returned, we reported the incident to the police and the village’s sarpanch,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Rajinder Singh Sohal, who reached the spot soon after the incident, said their teams were working to ascertain the identity of the accused, and footages of the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras are being examined.
Kalanaur station house officer (SHO) Amandeep Singh said they have registered a case under sections 392 (robbery), 379 (theft), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian penal code (IPC) and 25-54-59 of the Arms Act against the accused. Further investigations are on, he said.