Rs 50 lakh looted from cash vain in Bihar's Katihar

PATNA: Unidentified armed criminals on Thursday looted Rs 50 lakh from a cash van at Sanauli petrol pump under Kadwa police station area in Katihar district of Bihar at around 2pm.
The miscreants looted the money without firing even a single shot.
The spot is at least 400km away from the state capital and nearer to the West Bengal border.
Katihar SP Vikash Kumar said that at least six armed criminals reached the spot as soon as the cash van entered inside the pump premises to deposit Rs 50 lakh inside an ATM kiosk of State Bank of India located inside the premises.
"They over-powered the armed security guard of a private firm which deals in cash remittance and looted the money in a bag which was taken outside the van for depositing inside the kiosk," he said.
SP Kumar said that the criminals have reached the spot on three bikes and immediately decamped with the looted money. "No firing took place during the loot," he said.
Police said that it took hardly 90 to 120 seconds by the criminals to loot the money.
"Perhaps they had conducted recce. Incidentally, only one armed security guard along with the driver and three other staffs had reached to deposit cash while in normal routine, two armed guards man the cash remittance," a police officer said.
He said that the cash van had left SBI branch from Katihar town with altogether Rs 2.22 crore and had deposited money in three ATM kiosks. The incident took place while depositing cash at the fourth one with Rs 1.1 crore lying inside a locked steel truck in the van," the officer said adding that the CCTV camera surveillance system installed at the petrol pump premises was also lying defunct since last three to four days making things more difficult for police.
He said that the gang targeted only that amount which was taken out of the van and was exposed to public view.
The officer said that police had laid hands on CCTV camera footages installed on the retreat route taken by the criminals in which their movements were visible.
“They fled towards North Dinazpur in West Bengal which is bordering district of Kathar,” he said adding police suspects involvement of criminals from Bengal as well as Katihar in the loot case.