The Fulbari branch of the United Bank of India that was robbed. Picture by Kundan Yolmo

Fulbari (Siliguri) Nov. 11: A gang of six today looted a bank posing as customers, entering the premises soon after the gates opened and fleeing with more than Rs 8.50 lakh at the end of the 45-minute operation.

The four employees of the Fulbari branch of the United Bank of India (UBI) who had just arrived had been threatened with knives and guns and kept confined to a corner.

Kiranshankar Chakraborty, the branch manager, said the robbers had followed him inside although he did not realise it then.

“I reached the bank around 9.30am and while parking my two-wheeler, I noticed a person sitting outside the building premises, as if waiting for the bank to open. As I opened the main gate, he followed me inside. Presuming him to be a customer, I went to my chamber and had just switched on my PC when two-three persons dashed into my chamber. They took out firearms and told me in Hindi ‘Yahan pe dacaity ho raha hain. Chabi dijiye’ (A dacoity is happening. give us the keys). The gang fled with Rs 8.56 lakh,” said Chakraborty.

The bank is located 10km from Siliguri on NH31D, a deserted spot which has some garages and a tea stall.

Chakraborty and the other employees are not sure about the number of dacoits — it was either five or six — but they said all the criminals were in the age group of 25-30 years and they had come on motorcycles.

Till cashier Subimal Das arrived at 10am, Chakraborty and three of his colleagues were abused and threatened with knives and guns. When Das entered not suspecting anything amiss, along with three customers, he was immediately herded away and the vault keys snatched from him. “They took out the currency notes and dumped the money in two gunny bags that they were carrying. After that they told us to enter the cash section, putting the latch from outside and walking out.” The cellphones of all the employees and customers had been seized earlier.

The bank also has two lockers, which was not tampered with. Tapan Ghosh, another employee of the bank, later opened the door of the cash section and let the others out. The bank does not have any security on the campus. “We usually have security men posted in the main branches,” said Saroj Kumar Nayak, the chief regional manager of UBI north Bengal and Sikkim.

Police are banking on witness account to track down the dacoits. Since the gang did not have any masks on, the police believe that portrait parleys or identity kits of the dacoits will help.

“ There is an artist at the CID who will be doing the parleys, while listening to the witnesses,” said Anand Kumar, the superintendent of police of Jalpaiguri. “It seems one of the gang members spoke Bengali.”