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Robbers loot ₹1.19 cr from bank in Bihar’s Vaishali district
The bank branch is barely a kilometre from the town and women police stations and quite close to Union minister Nityanand Rai’s residence
In a daylight robbery, five to six unidentified, armed men looted ₹1.19 crore at gunpoint from Jadua branch of HDFC Bank falling in Vaishali district of Bihar on Thursday.
The bank branch is barely a kilometre from the town and women police stations and quite close to Union minister Nityanand Rai’s residence. This is the 13th such incident in the last 18 months in the state and criminals have looted ₹2.30 crore from different banks, according to an official at the state police headquarters.
According to the police, armed robbers walked into the bank at around 10.30am while there were about ten people, including customers, inside. The robbers had covered their faces with masks and wore gloves.
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As per an eyewitness account, a robber brandished a gun, threatening everyone against raising an alarm. They also deactivated the bank’s alarm and assaulted the branch manager when he resisted their loot attempt, said police sources. They also tied up those inside the bank.
One of them picked cash from the strong room by pointing a pistol at an employee and stuffed it in a bag. The robbers confiscated mobile phones of all the employees and customers. Then they fled on two bikes after closing the door from the outside. It took them about 20 minutes to execute the robbery.
Police said local vendors close by heard the screams of help from inside the bank. They went in, untied the people, and reported the matter to the police.
Tirhut range IG Ganesh Kumar, Vaishali SP Maneesh visited the spot. The SP said, “We are trying to identify the miscreants through the footage of CCTV cameras installed inside and outside the bank. We have started an investigation. The district borders have been sealed to prevent their escape to another district or state.”
He said a case was registered under Sections 397 (robbery or dacoity, with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt) of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act.
The IG said such a crime in the busiest area of Vaishali was a challenge for the police. A Special Investigation Team had been formed under DSP (Sadar) to crack the case.
