PATNA: Unidentified armed criminals looted around Rs 20 lakh from the State Bank of India’s branch in Chandrahathi village under the Kurhani police station area in Muzaffarpur district on Tuesday.
Police said the criminals also took away the digital hard drive recorder of the bank’s CCTV cameras while decamping, leaving behind no clue for prompt investigation.
Kurhani police station SHO Shashi Bhushan Kumar said at last six to seven criminals reached the bank riding three bikes and entered the premises around 1.10pm. They held the bank employees captive at gunpoint and forced one of them to open the cash chest.
“Around Rs 18 lakh, deposited in the bank on Monday, had been kept in the chest. It is yet not known if the criminals had kept an eye on the transactions before committing the crime,” the SHO said and added at least seven people, including four bankers, were inside the branch when the dacoity took place in around 20 minutes.
According to the SHO, none of the criminals had masked his face. They were in the age group of 20-25 years. “We are trying to get details of their physical appearance from the eyewitnesses,” he said.
Meanwhile, Muzaffarpur DSP (west) Krishna Murari Prasad told TOI over the phone police in neighbouring districts had been alerted. “We are told the criminals retreated towards Vaishali district, which further leads to Patna,” he said and added the bank branch was located hardly 200 meters away from NH-77.
Muzaffarpur SSP Harpreet Kaur said police have sealed the district boundaries and were trying to ascertain the identity of the criminals.
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