ANGUL: Cocking a snook at Angul Police yet again, gun-totting dacoits barged into a branch of Indian Bank and decamped with `8 lakh in cash and gold ornaments here on Saturday. They also assaulted the bank manager, injuring him grievously.About six dacoits had no problem whatsoever in entering the branch at Harimouri Chowk soon after the bank opened for normal transaction at around 10 am. After terrorising the staff and customers, the miscreants looted cash and gold ornaments.
They first herded the customers to one side of the bank and then demanded the strong room key from the manager before attacking him. The dacoits snatched the key from a staffer and looted the cash besides, gold ornaments. They fled with CCTVs and hard disc.
The entire exercise lasted for an hour and neither police nor any outsider had an inkling about what was going on inside the bank. Soon after the bank opened for the day, Bank Manager S R Mahapatra said, the dacoits barged in and threatened the staff at gun-point. He informed the police following which DIG (North Central) Naransingh Bhol and SDPO Harihar Pani rushed to the spot.
“There were five to six armed men and the dacoity was similar to the one committed in Andhra Bank here three months back. A statewide manhunt has been started to nab them,” the DIG said. Sniffer dogs and scientific teams were pressed into service but no breakthrough has been achieved yet. Three months back, armed dacoits had looted `27 lakh and gold ornaments from Andhra Bank. They had also taken away CCTVs. A similar dacoity had taken place in Rourkela a month back.