Bihar: Criminals loot Rs 44 lakh from Sheohar, E Champaran banks

PATNA/MOTIHARI: Criminals looted more than Rs 44 lakh in cash from two banks in separate incidents in Sheohar and East Champaran districts on Thursday.
The criminals barged into a branch of the Bank of Baroda near Amba High School under the Piprahi police station area in Sheohar district and looted Rs 26 lakh in cash. A bullet fired by one of the criminals hit the guard of the bank, Praveen Kumar, who is undergoing treatment at a local hospital.
Sheohar SP Anant Kumar Rai said five criminals entered the bank around 10.13am and held the employees hostage at gunpoint. "They snatched keys of the currency chest (locker) from the cashier and looted the cash. When Praveen resisted, the criminals opened fire. They also fired in the air to terrorise the onlookers. The criminals have been identified and raids are on to arrest them," the SP added.
SHO of Piprahi police station Suraj Gupta said Praveein was undergoing treatment at sub-divisional hospital. "According to doctors, his condition is out of danger," the SHO added.
Meanwhile, a gang of five criminals looted Rs 18 lakh in cash from a branch of ICICI Bank at Sarottar under the Dumariyaghat police station area in East Champaran district. Deepak Kumar Singh, manager of ICICI Bank’s Sarottar unit, said the criminals held the bank employees and customers hostage at gunpoint while committing the crime. Locals said the criminals left on two bikes after committing the crime.