Burqa-clad Hizb militants loot bank in Anantnag district of Kashmir

Immediately after the bank dacoity, police, paramilitary and army men laid siege around the area to track the militants.
For representational purposes (File | Reuters)
For representational purposes (File | Reuters)

SRINAGAR: The burqa-clad militants of Hizbul Mujahideen on Monday looted Rs 5.20 lakhs from a bank branch in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.

A police official said a group of three militants, two of them wearing veil and carrying AK-47 rifles, barged into J&K Bank branch at Arwani, Bijbehara in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district this afternoon.

He said another militant had his face covered and was not carrying the weapon.

“He kept vigil near the gate while other others looted Rs 5.20 lakhs from the bank branch on the gun point,” the official said.

He said after looting the bank, the militants fled from the spot.

Immediately after the bank dacoity, police, paramilitary and army men laid siege around the area to track the militants.

The official said during the initial investigation conducted by the police with the help of CCTV footage, it has been found that HM militants were involved in the bank robbery.

He said efforts are on to identity the militants and track them down.

“Further investigations are going on,” he added.

Over a dozen bank robberies have taken place in Kashmir after scrapping of old Rs 500 and 1000 notes in November last year.

Most of the bank robberies have taken place in south Kashmir, where over 150 militants of Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Toiba and other militant groups are active.

South Kashmir comprising four districts of Anantnag, Pulwama, Kulgam and Shopian was the epicenter of the over five month long unrest in the Valley last year following killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8, 2016.

Earlier, in month of July, police had arrested a resident of Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh Sandeep Kumar Sharma alias Adil for links to militant group Lashkar-e-Toiba and accused him of being involved in bank robberies, militant attacks and snatching of weapons.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com