Gunmen loot ₹3.28 lakh from J&K Bank’s branch in south Kashmir

Officials said the militants barged into J&K Bank’s branch in Khudwani area of Kulgam in the afternoon.

Two suspected militants on Friday looted around ₹3,28,000 from a branch of Jammu and Kashmir Bank, the biggest in the state, in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district, police said.

A paramilitary soldier stands guard at a temporary check point. Last year, there were a series of bank robberies in Kashmir and a majority of them targeted the J&K Bank. (AP File Photo)

Officials said the militants barged into J&K Bank’s branch in Khudwani area of Kulgam in the afternoon.

“The two militants overpowered the guard of the bank, showed him a gun and then took away the money,” Kulgam’s superintendent of police Harmeet Singh said.

The security forces immediately cordoned the area to trace the robbers.

Last year, there were a series of bank robberies in Kashmir and a majority of them targeted J&K Bank. The bank stopped cash transactions for some time in at least 40 branches in south Kashmir after the robberies.

Police blamed militants of Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba for the incidents, saying they were “cash-starved”. The surge in robberies was reported after the Centre announced the scrapping of ₹500 and ₹1,000 currency notes on November 8, 2016.

However, the militants had vehemently denied the allegations.