BALASORE: In a daring daylight heist, gun-toting miscreants looted about Rs 40 lakh along with jewellery from a Union Bank of India branch in Balasore district on Wednesday. The incident took place post noon when customers along with the staff were inside the bank branch in Chandaneswar area within Talsari marine police limits.
The robbers, some of them masked, walked into the bank posing as customers and took control of the branch at gunpoint. Once inside, three of them locked the entrance and asked customers to sit in a corner. They collected the mobile phones of staff and customers and warned them not to raise alarm or even move, a customer said.
The robbers then disconnected power supply and snapped CCTV camera cables inside the bank. Two of them rushed to the teller counter and asked the cashier to hand over the money. They even thrashed a staff when he refused to part with the locker keys and threatened him at gunpoint.
“After getting the key, the miscreants collected cash and jewellery from the locker room and left by locking the bank entrance gate from the outside,” said Golak Pradhan, a customer who went through the ordeal. The whole operation lasted for 30-40 minutes, the staff said, adding the miscreants spoke in Odia, Bengali and Hindi.
Initial investigation suggested the number of miscreants could be between six and eight. They all came on two-wheelers, Balasore SP Sagarika Nath said.IG (East) Himansu Lal who rushed to the spot said teams have been formed to nab the miscreants who may have fled towards the bordering areas. Soon after the incident, routes connected to West Bengal were sealed and search for bikers and four-wheelers began.