PATNA: A gang of armed criminals looted Rs 1.19 crore in cash from the Jadhua branch of HDFC Bank near Hajipur in Vaishali district around 10.30am on Thursday.
Police said five criminals entered the bank around 10.30am and looted cash from shelf after holding employees and security guard hostage at gunpoint.
According to the bank employees, the robbers had covered their faces with masks and were wearing gloves in hands.
They were in the age group of 20 to 25 years.
The CCTV footages obtained from the bank showed the robbers entering the bank as customers.
The guard on duty sanitised their hands and recorded their temperature at the gate before allowing them to enter the bank.
Soon, one of the robbers whipped out a pistol and held the security guard hostage.
His other accomplices went inside and filled their bags with cash from the shelf after threatening the manager with fire consequences.
“The entire operation lasted hardly for five minutes.
The criminals had parked their motorcycles outside the bank.
They fled with the looted cash without any resistance either from the bank staff or the locals,” IG (Tirhut range) Ganesh Kumar said.
The IG visited the bank along with Vaishali SP Maneesh and Hajipur sadar SDPO Raghav Dayal and inquired about the incident.
He said the borders of the district have been sealed and a combing operation launched to arrest the robbers.
The IG said the exit route of the robbers had already been ascertained.
The CCTV footage showed four criminals escorting one of their associates who was carrying the bag containing cash as they stepped out of the bank after committing the crime.
Police sources said Thursday’s incident was the 13th bank robbery in the state in the last 18 months.
Earlier this year, the criminals had looted Rs 43 lakh from an Axis Bank branch on Hajipur-Mahnar road under the Desri police station area in Vaishali district.
The IG said a special investigation team had been set up under the leadership of Vaishali SP.
“The role of some bank employees is under scanner,” he added.
The site of occurrence is at a stone’s throw distance from the ancestral house of Union minister of state for home Nityanand Rai and Vaishali district Women’s police station.
A senior police officer posted at the police headquarters has not ruled out the possibility of involvement of a professional gang in the incident.