Joda, Feb 1: Armed miscreants robbed Rs 19 lakh from the local branch of a public sector bank while a private bank customer was robbed of Rs 51,000 here in mineral rich Keonjhar district Monday.
The twin robberies in broad daylight triggered panic among residents who held slack policing responsible for the incidents.
In the first incident, two miscreants riding a numberless Bajaj Pulsar motorcycle arrived at the Indusind Bank’s branch and robbed Rs 51,306 from customer Anuj Kumar Satapathy while he was coming out of the branch after withdrawing the money.
The second incident occurred at Andhra Bank branch at 2 pm when five miscreants barged into the premises by holding security guard Kishore Chandra Nayak at gunpoint. Once in, they brandished gun before cashier Jashobant Narayan Nayak and looted Rs 19 lakh from the cash counter and the strong room.
The amount included that of a customer Santosh Kumar who had deposited Rs 2.5 lakh in the counter and was waiting for delivery of the receipt. The incident pushed Kumar into distress as he is unsure whether the bank will refund his money or not.
The miscreants then locked the employees in a room and even locked the gate before absconding with the booty, manager Tukuram Munda said.
DSP Saroj Kumar Mohapatra, Bolani IIC Madhabananda Nayak and Joda IIC (in-charge) Madan Mohan Naik rushed to the spot and started an investigation. The miscreants are suspected to be outsiders as they were conversing in Hindi and Bengali, the cashier said. A manhunt has been launched to arrest the miscreants, police said.
Earlier, four miscreants had robbed over Rs 4 lakh from the State Bank of India’s branch at Naradpur along National Highway-215 under Champua police limits, January 12, 2009. However, the matter has remained unresolved so far. PNN
