Miscreants loot cash, gold from bank in broad daylight in Jharkhand's Deoghar district

Deoghar, Sep 22 (PTI) Six armed men looted a private bank in Jharkhand's Deoghar district on Monday afternoon, police said.

Deoghar SP Saurabh Kumar told PTI that based on bank officials' statement and CCTV camera footage, six miscreants armed with pistols entered the HDFC Bank at Rajabari Road in the heart of the city at around 12.45 pm and decamped with cash and gold.

The officer said bank officials were still calculating the amount looted by the miscreants.

"We have formed teams to track the criminals. They came in three bikes. While one of them wore a helmet, another put a scarf on his face. The faces of the other four could be seen," the SP said.

The SP added that at least three of them were armed with pistols.

"Though they did not fire a single shot, they assaulted a bank employee and threatened customers. The injured bank employee was admitted to a local hospital, where his condition is stated to be stable," the SP added.

Madhupur SDPO Madhupur Satyendra Prasad, who visited the spot, claimed that repeated reminders, banks were not keeping armed guards.

"There was no armed guard present at the bank, which gave the miscreants a free hand. They fled on three bikes, and later, one was recovered at a village nearly 5 km from the bank. It might be a tactic to mislead police or perhaps the bike might have run out of fuel," he said.

"The heist was well-planned as they pulled down the shutter from inside while committing the crime, and also locked it from outside while fleeing with the cash and gold," said Prasad. PTI ANB MNB