Ambabhona: In a sensational robbery, a gang of robbers armed with guns and sharp-edged weapons overpowered security guards and employees and decamped with `16 lakh in cash and gold ornaments worth more than `1 crore from the State Bank of India’s Ruchida branch here Friday.
The broad daylight robbery took place just 50 km from Bargarh town.
Bargarh superintendent of police B Jugal Kishore and additional SP Jaswant Senapati reached the bank and launched a manhunt for the miscreants. All checkposts and roads going out of Ambabhona were sealed and police were deployed, sources said.
However, no arrests were made till the time of filing this report. A case was registered and an investigation was launched. Police checked CCTV footage at the bank. However, the footage was blurred and police said it is hard to find any clues on the identities of the dacoits.
Eight youths masked with towels and helmets stormed into the bank Friday noon. Two of them guarded the bank entrance while six of them entered with pistols and sharp-edged weapons. They overpowered the bank security guard Ganesh Prasad Dash and beat him up.
Later, they seized his gun and threatened the branch manager Debendra Nath Mishra, employees Santosh Pradhan, Paresh Pradhan, Akhil Pradhan, Sanjay Kumar Tandi and locked them in a room.
They held 40 customers at gunpoint and locked them in another room, sources said. Later, they held cashier Chabil Behera at gunpoint and asked him to show the strong room where the gold and cash was kept.
The dacoits collected the gold ornaments in a bag and fled. Chabil freed the bank employees and customers after the dacoits left the bank. The dacoits mostly spoke in Hindi, Oriya and Sambalpuri, witnesses said.
Police recovered the security guard’s gun on the outskirts. A massive manhunt was launched in the areas with police conducting raids at various places. PNN