Criminals strike again, loot Rs 18 lakh in Muzaffarpur and Vaishali

PATNA: Unidentified armed criminals looted about Rs.18 lakh in two different incidents in Muzaffarpur and Vaishali districts on Tuesday, close on the heels of loot of Rs.12.8 lakh cash from a nationalized bank at Motipur in Muzaffarpur on Monday.
In the first incident, a gang of five armed criminals entered the office of a private finance company at Saraiya Bazaar under the Saraiya police station area around 2.45 pm on Tuesday and looted Rs.15.5 lakh.Two of the robbers had covered their faces with helmet and towel to hide their identity.
An employee of the company Anuj Kumar Singh told police that while three criminals entered the cash counter and collected the cash after holding the employees and customers hostage at gun-point, two stood guard near the main entrance of the office. The operation lasted hardly for three minutes.
The robbers, who were in the age group of 20 and 25 years, escaped with the cash towards Vaishali on motorbikes, which they had parked on the main road. On getting information, Saraiya SDPO Rajesh Kumar along with Saraiya police station SHO Ajay Paswan rushed to the spot and inquired about the incident.
The SDPO said that the robbers attacked the office when the employees were about to leave for the Bank of India to deposit the amount. Around 40-50 customers were also present in the office at the time of the incident. The security guard, Ajit Kumar, however, couldn’t resist and he was caught off guard.
The SDPO later told the media that efforts were on to ascertain the identity of the gang involved in the daylight loot. “The CCTV footage will help the police ascertain the identity of the robbers,” he said adding that the borders of the district have been sealed and a vehicle-checking drive has been launched to nab the robbers.
In another incident, three armed criminals looted Rs.2.5 lakh from a customer service point (CSP) at Rohua village under the Bhagwanpur police station area in Vaishali district. The incident took place around 2 pm when three employees were on duty and busy in dealing with the customers in the office.
Earlier on Monday, motorbike-borne criminals had looted Rs.12.8lakh from Motipur branch of the Bank of India in Muzaffarpur district. The robbers had also snatched cash from the customers who were present in the bank at the time of the incident.
Taking a serious note of frequent incidents of cash loot in two neighbouring districts—Muzaffarpur and Vaishali—the state police headquarters has deployed a contingent of special task force (STF) in the region. Last month, DGP Gupteshwar Pandey had reviewed the law and order situation in Vaishali.