BHUBANESWAR: In a broad daylight heist, a single robber wearing a helmet, mask and gloves entered the Indian Overseas Bank's Nandan Vihar branch and decamped with about Rs 2.78 lakh at gunpoint on Monday.
According to the police, the robber went to the bank after 3.30 pm and threatened the cashier, Sangeeta Hansda, at gunpoint. Another woman executive who works as assistant manager and is physicallychallenged along with a peon were present apart from Hansda when the incident took place. "The man threatened Hansda and asked her to give all the cash from drawer. Intimated by the miscreant, she handed him over the cash," said a senior official of the branch.
The miscreant then asked her to hand him over the keys of the strong room. However, the keys were with the branch’s manager who was not present in the office. Police have accessed CCTV footage of the bank and initial investigation suggests that the miscreant was carrying an air-gun.
There were reportedly no security guards deployed at the branch since customer footfall is not too high, they added. The robber was possibly aware about the low staff presence in the bank and chose the time. "A probe has been launched to identify and trace the miscreant," said Bhubaneswar DCP Uma Shankar Dash. The bank branch comes under Infocity police station.