Jamshedpur Bank Robbery: Armed robbers loot Rs 35 lakh from Bank of India Mango branch – VIDEO

Jamshedpur, Aug 18: At least four armed robbers allegedly barged into Dimna Chowk branch of Bank of India in Mango under Olidih Police Station jurisdiction in Jamshedpur and fled with cash after taking the staff hostage on Thursday morning.

When the miscreants entered the bank, they took mobile phones of all employees at gunpoint.

A few clients were also present in the bank during the incident.

The robbers then went to the cash counter and stuffed the cash in a bag and sped away. According to reports cash worth Rs 35 lakh was looted from the branch.

After the incident, Jamshedpur SSP, Prabhat Kumar, along with senior police officials reached the spot and started a probe.

A police official said that it seemed to be a child’s play for the gang of robbers. They simply walked up to the cashier, pointed a gun at him, grabbed the cash and fled. In fact, within few minutes, they were out of the bank and on the busy main road. They reportedly escaped. No one even put up any resistance.

The robbers also snatched mobile phones from all those inside the premises and subsequently drove them all into a room. Soon they collected the entire stock of cash from the cash section and fled the scene.

The criminals executed the robbery in such swiftness that none of the bank officials could do anything to alert the police. The management of the branch had informed the police only after the robbers had fled the spot.

OC of Ulidih police station, Meghnath Mandal, who was first to reach the spot, confirmed the robbery.

“As per the initial information gathered. There has been a robbery in the Bank of India’s branch here. We estimate Rs 35 lakhs to have been looted,” said Mandal. The OC said they are trying to scan CCTV footage of the crime scene to detect the case.

Soon after senior police officers, SSP Prabhat Kumar and City SP, K Vijay Shankar reached the spot and started investigating the incident. The police have also started a frantic search operation having sealed the exit points of the city.

“ It’s really a shocking incident. Looting money from the bank’s door step is definitely a daring act as there were so many people coming and going out of the bank,” said the official.

Describing the criminals involved in the loot, the police said one of the criminals was shot.

“Investigation is on and we have sealed the entire city and set up arms-checking at a number of places.  Apart from this we are raiding the hideouts in Mango, and Chandil.  We understand that the criminals had been following the bank closely before committing the loot,” said the police officer.

Criminals enter bank by posing as CBI officers

Six armed criminals looted cash worth Rs 35 lakh from the Dimna Road branch of Bank of India, just 200 metres away from Olidih police station on Thursday.

Sources said the criminals, four in numbers, entered the bank premises after 10 am. Few cleaning staff and customers were present inside. Just then, the culprits asked all present to keep their mobile phone inside a bag and announced that it was a CBI raid. Two other criminals stood at the entrance of the bank, one inside and the other outside the gate.

The criminals inside the bank took the bank staff to a room and forced them to open the vault. After filling the cash in a bag, they rushed out of the bank and locked its shutter from outside. The culprits carried their own lock for the purpose. While leaving, they kept the collected mobile phones outside the bank, sources said.

After committing the dacoity, the criminals escaped separately towards Dimna Chowk and Mango Chowk. One of them also fired in the air while fleeing, sources said.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Prabhat Kumar reached the crime scene along with DSP Patamada Sumit Kumar, DSP Headquarters I Virendra Ram, MGM SHO Mithilesh Kumar and Olidih SHO Meghnath Mandal.

During investigation, police recovered a bullet case from outside the bank. Senior officials questioned all bank staff and customers about the incident. They said a private security agency had withdrawn its staff from the bank after expiration of its contract, adding that the involvement of some bank staff could not be ruled out.