Unidentified youths today looted above Rs 55 lakh from two separate banks in Odisha's Jharsuguda and Dhenkanal districts at gun point, the police said.
While above Rs 50 lakh was looted from the Beheramal branch of Bank of India in Jharsuguda town at around 2 PM, three persons took away about Rs 5 lakh from the UCO Bank at Motanga in Dhenkanal district, they said.
Both incidents took place between 2 PM to 3 PM, the police said adding about six-seven armed and masked persons came on motorcycles and entered the BOI at Jharsuguda.
Armed with pistols and knives, they first overpowered bank employees and put them inside a room before taking away cash from both the counter and the strong room, said Khirasagar Nayak, Inspector In-charge of Jharsuguda police station.
While one of the miscreants was speaking in Bengali, others were speaking in Hindi. They fled the place soon after committing the crime, the police said.
The Police have sealed all exit points of the industrial town to prevent the miscreants from escaping.
In another incident, above Rs 5 lakh cash were looted by three miscreants from UCO bank, Dhalapur branch, in Dhenkanal district at gun point.
"Two of a three-member group entered the bank and threatened the employees at gun point. They left the place after the crime. However, the police have recovered Rs 1 lakh from near the bank building," said Nikhil Kanodia, SP, Dhenkanal.
