Rs 8 lakh looted from bank at Muzaffarpur

MUZAFFARPUR: Armed criminals looted over Rs8 lakh from a private bank branch at Gobarsahi Chowk under Sadar police station area in Muzaffarpur town on Saturday morning. The criminals also snatched the gun from bank’s security guard Dinesh Tiwari after hitting him with the butt of their pistols.
Police sources said six criminals with their faces covered with towels and helmets forcibly entered the ICICI Bank branch around 11.45am after injuring the guard.They took the customers and employees, including branch manager Rajesh Kumar, hostage at gunpoint and collected the cash from the counter.
“One of the six miscreants put his gun on my head and warned to kill me if anybody will raise an alarm for help. Later, they fled away with Rs8,05,115,” the bank manager said.
Security guard Tiwari said he was standing at the entrance when three criminals came and asked him about the timing of branch opening. “I was about to answer before one of them put a pistol on my chest and snatched my double-barrel gun. They also pulled me inside before committing the crime,” he said.
Meanwhile, policemen took more than half an hour to reach the bank despite the fact that the branch is only 200 metres from Sadar police station.
However, Muzaffarpur SSP Manoj Kumar said the looted amount was less than Rs2 lakh. “I talked to the manager, who did not confirm the exact amount. According to him, it may be less than Rs2 lakh as no currency with bigger denomination was there,” said the SSP, adding that he would confirm the looted amount only after checking the cash and collection register of the bank.
The SSP said the CCTV footage is being checked to identify the criminals. “All criminals were in their early 20s. We have blocked all exit points of the town and intensive search operations have been launched to nab them,” he said.