Giridih, Nov 5 (PTI) Masked miscreants armed with weapons looted a branch of UCO Bank near Dhanwar Market in Jharkhand’s Giridih district on Thursday, a police officer said.
Giridih SP Bimal Kumar told reporters that five armed criminals arrived on two bikes and carried out the robbery.
“One of the perpetrators wore a helmet, while the other four wore masks. Each of them was carrying a pistol,” the SP said.
According to the police, the criminals first entered the branch manager’s cabin and held a pistol to his temple. They then took the bank manager, staff, and customers hostage, confining them to one area. The victims’ faces and hands were bound with adhesive tape.
“The criminals then forced the manager to hand over the keys to the locker containing gold, and looted the cash,” police said.
The bank branch is situated in the heart of the market, directly opposite the Dhanwar police station—barely 100 meters away.
CCTV footage from outside the bank showed the criminals fleeing with the gold packed into bags. After carrying out the crime, the perpetrators fled with the bank’s CCTV DVR to destroy any evidence.
“The bank officials are still trying to find out the exact amount of cash and jewellery looted. However, prima facie, the bank official claimed that approximately Rs 10 lakh in cash and jewellery valued between Rs 3 crore and Rs 4 crore were stolen. An investigation is underway, and the police have cordoned off the entire area,” the SP said.
The SP said that a police team has recovered two motorcycles used in the incident and one person has been detained. The entire area has been cordoned off, and raids are currently underway to apprehend the perpetrators. PTI ANB RG
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