₹8 lakh looted from SBI branch, 5 held

West Champaran SP Upendra Nath Verma said a total of eight people were involved in the robbery, during which ₹8.29 lakh in cash was looted, of which ₹2.42 lakh has been recovered from the arrested suspects

Five suspects were arrested in Bihar’s West Champaran district on Wednesday, hours after they looted cash from branch of State Bank of India (SBI), police said.

An SBI branch. (HT Archive)

Bettiah’s superintendent of police (SP) Upendra Nath Verma said, “Of the five arrested, four were directly involved in the crime, while the fifth assisted them. We have also seized three arms used in the crime.”

Verma said a total of eight people were involved in the robbery, during which ₹8.29 lakh in cash was looted, of which ₹2.42 lakh has been recovered from the arrested suspects.

According to branch manager Yogendra Prasad Choudhary, the robbers barged into the SBI branch at Tola Malahi under Bairiya police station limits of the district around 11 am, held the staff at gunpoint and walked away with cash.

“They also roughed up our staff and fired in the air. They damaged the CCTV and escaped with the hard disc,” said Choudhary.

Balishwar Prasad, an eye-witness, confirmed the bank manager’s account.

Verma, who visited the bank after the incident, said the police recovered four empty cartridges in and around the bank.