Police investigate the burglary in Dhanbad on Sunday. Picture by Gautam Dey

Dhanbad, May 22: A group of four unidentified men looted three gold chains and a mobile phones worth Rs 1.5 lakh in total, from the house of a bank manager at Dhaiya Khatal under Dhanbad sadar police station early this morning.

According to Tapas Kumar Goswami, the manager of a Bank of India branch at Murka in Rajgang, the burglars, who were masked and appeared to be in their mid 20s, entered the house around 3am by breaking open the door of a bathroom.

One of them was carrying a countrymade pistol, while another held a dagger and the two others were armed with shovels. They first went into the room where Goswami was fast asleep with his wife.

“After entering our room, the dacoits woke us up and demanded the keys to our almirah,” Goswami said. He told them that the keys were in another room where his daughter was sleeping with his mother-in-law, the banker added.

The thieves then headed for the adjacent room. Goswami’s daughter woke up on hearing noises but fainted after seeing the masked men, who asked Goswami’s mother-in-law for the keys.

Goswami charged at one of the criminals from behind and struck on his head with a bamboo pole. “Angered, one of them attacked me with a dagger and injured my left hand, which started bleeding profusely,” he said.

Meanwhile, the burglars, on hearing voices of a nearby cowshed owners, quickly snatched a gold chain each from Goswami’s wife, daughter and mother-in-law and picked up a mobile phone, before fleeing.

Goswami broke down after the criminals left. Neighbours started gathering around his house and informed Dhanbad sadar police station about the incident. The police led by DSP (law and order) Sanjay Ranjan Singh lodged a case against unidentified people.

Singh said a search operation had been launched based on information provided by the victims.