Bihar: Armed robbers loot Rs 16 lakh cash from Axis bank in Bhojpur

Armed miscreants stormed into Bhojpur's Axis Bank branch in Bihar and took the bank employees and customers as hostage soon after the bank opened for regular business on Wednesday morning. The miscreants have pulled down the shutters of the bank from inside.

Bhojpur: In a sensational heist reported from Bihar, armed robbers looted at least Rs 16 lakh after storming into a branch of the Axis Bank in Bhojpur district of the state on Wednesday, sources said. Reliable sources said that the armed robbers believed to be five in number stormed into the Axis bank located in Katira area under Nawada police station limits in Bhojpur at around 10.17 am today morning and locked the bank staff in the pantry room.

Sources said that a businessman had come to the bank to deposit his money which was lying on the cash counter at the time the robbers barged inside the bank. The said cash was looted by the armed robbers at gunpoint after which the robbers fled from the spot. Superintendent of Police Bhojpur, Pramod Kumar confirmed the incident and said that the criminals have fled after looting Rs 16 lakh cash from the bank.

"Five criminals had entered the bank, after which the police was informed. The police team reached the spot within 2 minutes but by then the criminals had looted Rs 16 lakh and fled from the spot. They locked the gate due to which the police team got confused that they were present inside. The pictures of all the criminals have been captured in the CCTV cameras," SP, Bhojpur said.

“It was found that the criminals had already looted the money and ran away. Police have set up blockades around the city, soon the criminals will be arrested and the money will be recovered,” he added. While police claimed the number of the robbers to be five, a bank employee said that the criminals were seven to eight in number.

"Seven to eight criminals barged into the bank. All of them had weapons, they took our mobile phones and locked us inside (before looting the cash),” the bank employee said adding that the robbers did not open fire inside the bank premises.