Jamshedpur: A group of armed robbers carried out a daring bank robbery in broad daylight in Jharkhand’s East Singhbhum district on Tuesday, escaping with around Rs 15 lakh from a branch of Canara Bank in the Sakra area of Baharagora.
Police said that around five to six masked criminals stormed into the bank at about 2 p.m., creating panic among employees and customers. Armed with country-made firearms and sharp weapons, the robbers controlled the situation for nearly 15 minutes before making their escape.
According to officials, the attackers reached the bank on three motorcycles. While four of them entered the premises, two others remained outside to keep watch. Inside the bank, the criminals quickly collected the mobile phones of everyone present to prevent any immediate alert to the police.
The robbers allegedly pointed a gun at Assistant Branch Manager Saurabh Verma and demanded access to the bank lockers. When they learned that the rural branch did not have locker facilities, they forcibly took away Verma’s gold chain and ring.
They then moved to the cash counter and cash room, from where they collected nearly Rs 15 lakh and packed the cash into a bag before leaving.
Before fleeing, the criminals locked the main entrance of the bank from outside, leaving customers and staff trapped inside. Police later reached the spot, broke open the lock and rescued those inside.
Witnesses told police that the robbers were conversing in Bengali among themselves but issued threats to the staff in Hindi. After leaving the bank premises, they discarded the confiscated mobile phones in a nearby field to delay tracking efforts.
During the robbery, the criminals also attempted to take away a device they thought was the bank’s hard disk. However, Branch Manager Nanaji Rao managed to secure the actual hard disk, preventing any loss of sensitive data.
Ghatsila DSP Ajit Kumar Kujur reached the scene with police personnel shortly after local residents alerted authorities.
Police have begun an investigation and are reviewing CCTV footage from the bank and surrounding areas to identify the culprits and trace their escape route.
With inputs from IANS