In second incident in two days in Punjab, some armed men looted Rs 10.27 lakh and 50-gm gold from a bank at Sarawan Bodla village under Lambi Assembly segment in Muktsar district on Wednesday.
As per locals, six robbers with their faces covered with cloth came on three motorcycles to the State Bank of India (SBI) branch in the village.
They were carrying .12-bore rifles. Before fleeing, they took away digital video recorder (DVR) from the bank besides mobile phones of bank staff, sources said.
The incident took place at about 2.40 pm. A large number of cops, including DIG, Bathinda range, Ashish Chaudhary, Muktsar SP (D) Baljit Singh and Malout SDM Vishesh sarangal reached the spot and started investigation.
Talking to mediapersons outside the bank, Labh Singh, an eyewitness, said, “I was inside when the robbers, with their faces covered, entered the bank and asked all of us to turn our faces towards the walls. They were carrying rifles. After taking keys from the bank staff, they looted the cash and fled.”
No one from the media was allowed to go inside the bank as the cops were busy conducting investigation. A team of forensic experts, too, had come to the bank to collect samples.
Talking to mediapersons, Ashish Chaudhary, DIG, Bathinda range, said, “Nearly Rs 10 lakh and 5-tola of gold has been looted. We are investigating the matter.”
On the other hand, the bank manager, who did not wish to be identified, said, “I am suffering from hypertension, can’t give any information.”
Notably, six youths, in their mid-twenties, had yesterday intercepted a cash van, fired at the driver and fled with Rs 1.33 crore on the busy Banur-Rajpura highway in Patiala district.
