Rupsa/Basta: A gang of armed robbers allegedly looted over Rs 8 lakh from the Barunagadia branch of Bank of Baroda (BoB) under Basta police limits in Balasore district Friday. Eye-witnesses said eight miscreants came in a SUV and two bikes at noon and stormed into the bank. First they cut off the CCTV camera links inside the bank and then terrorised the employees by brandishing pistols and sharp-edged weapon. They forced all the employees and customers inside a room and bolted them.
Customers alleged that all the eight were speaking in Bengali. So it is suspected that they were from West Bengal. The customers also informed that two of the robbers were wearing masks. They snatched over Rs 8 lakh from the bank’s cashier and substantial amounts from customers who had withdrawn money. The SUV was waiting for them on the NH in which they fled, a woman bank staffer said.
On being informed, SP Sudhansu Shekhar Mishra, Basta SDPO Jalandhar Jali and IIC Barini Das along with a forensic team visited the spot and started an investigation regarding the robbery. It may be mentioned here that some miscreants had looted articles worth lakhs from rupees July 20 from Barunagadia Mahadev temple, Hanuman temple, Bhupalchandra High School and UGME School in the same district.