Dacoits loot gold, cash worth crores in broad daylight heist

Kolkata: A gang of armed miscreants stormed into a branch office of a non-banking financial corporation and looted gold worth Rs 8 crore and hard cash of around Rs 4 lakh.

The incident took place at the Court More area on Burnpur Road in Asansol in broad daylight on Saturday. A gang of 6-7 miscreants entered the office at around 9.15 am when there were no security personnel.

It was learnt that the security personnel of the non-banking financial corporation came to join their duties late as a result of which some staff members opened the branch office on their own. Just after few minutes of opening the branch, the miscreants, brandishing arms, stormed into the office.

Local residents have alleged that a police outpost is situated within a few yards of the office but the police arrived quite late. The fear-stricken staff members also dialed 100 helplessly but it was of no use as their repeated phone calls went unanswered.

The miscreants beat up some of the staff members who were not prompt enough to hand over the keys of the main vault. The armed miscreants also threatened of dire consequences if any of the employees raised an alarm or tried to inform the police. The accused then opened the vault and looted the gold and cash within nearly half-an-hour.

Police said that some of the miscreants were wearing monkey caps while others had their helmets on. The miscreants parked their motorcycles outside the office.

CCTV footages are being examined that are installed outside the branch office to look for clues. There was no CCTV inside, as has been learnt from the police.