Bhubaneswar: Rs 20L looted from UCO Bank in Balasore district

BALASORE: Six men looted nearly Rs 20 lakh from UCO Bank, Chowki branch, under Bhograi police station limits in Balasore district on Tuesday afternoon by holding the staff at gun-point.
The six robbers, who were wearing masks and helmets and armed with guns and sharp-edged weapons, entered the bank around 1.35 pm and closed the main gate. They then threatened the customers present in the branch with the weapons and bomb and took away the mobile phones of all customers and bank staff.
While three of the armed men went to the system room of the bank, the rest proceeded towards the cashier’s desk and took all the money from the cash drawer and gold jewellery from the strong room. The completed the heist in 10 minutes and fled from the spot in two motorcycles.
The assistant bank manager informed police and filed a complaint with the Bhograi police station. Reaching the spot with a sniffer dog and scientific team, the cops have started the investigation.
IIC of Bhograi police station Sujata Khamari said the criminals had directed the bank staff into a room before looting from the cashier’s drawer and strong room, she said. Police are trying to collect evidence from the bank’s CCTV cameras.
A massive manhunt has been launched to nab the culprits. All exit points from the district at Sahabajipur, Jaleswar and other small passages to West Bengal have been sealed. “We suspect the criminals might escape to West Bengal as the border is just 5 km away from the place of occurrence,” she added.