(From top) A wooden frame wrenched from a window of the Bank of India branch lies amid the wild undergrowth, a crowd outside the bank and a safe cut out of the wall lies on the floor at the Naya Chowk branch. Telegraph pictures

Muzaffarpur, Jan. 16: Three daring bank robberies in rural parts of the state in a span of 24 hours have baffled the authorities and put a serious question mark on the security and the vigilance of the men-in-uniform.

In the first incident, armed criminals looted Rs 9.38 lakh from the Bazidpur village branch of Union Bank under Bochahan police station on Friday night. Last night, burglars struck the Bank of India branch in Naya Chowk village under Kanti block and looted Rs 10 lakh. On the same night, robbers also made off with Rs 6.64 lakh from North Bihar Regional Rural Bank, Ramnagra, in Sitamarhi district.

Muzaffarpur senior superintendent of police (SSP) Sunil Kumar told The Telegraph: “A well-organised gang of bank dacoits is on the prowl in the district. These gangs of dacoits generally sneak in from the bordering districts of north Bihar under the cover of darkness. Once their mission is over, they flee the district to avoid the police dragnet.”

At both the Muzaffarpur banks, the criminals held the security guards and landlords captive at gunpoint. In Bazidpur village, the gang members reached the bank premises late at night in an SUV and overpowered the guards. They even captured the landlord of the bank, residing on the same premises, and threatened them with dire consequences if they raised an alarm. Thereafter, the dacoits used gas cutters to melt and soften the iron locks before barging into the bank premises for looting the currency. The bank dacoits even cut the ATM shelf with a gas cutter at the Union Bank branch before looting the cash.

The assistant superintendent of police (ASP), Vikas Barman, along with police officers, visited Naya Chowk village in Kanti police station to take stock of the loot operation in the Bank of India branch case. The ASP expressed displeasure over the lack of security at the bank and the absence of night guards. Taking advantage of that, the criminals cut the locks and iron shelf with a gas cutter and looted the currency. The branch manager of Bank of India, Ashok Kumar, has lodged an FIR with Kanti police station against unidentified criminals this afternoon. The ASP, however, quizzed the villagers who expressed ignorance about the incident. Police said around 10 dacoits came and parked their vehicles a few yards away from the bank.

The SSP held a high-level review meeting in the wake of the two incidents of bank loot with the assistant superintendent of police Vikas Barman (west) and the deputy superintendent of police (east) Shibli Nomani, the deputy superintendent of police (headquarters) Manish Kumar and decided to intensify police surveillance along bordering areas at night. Vehicles coming from adjoining districts of Vaishali, Samastipur, Darbhanga, Sheohar, Sitamarhi, Motihari and Chhapra at night would be checked on a regular basis. Two police teams led by the deputy superintendents of police would be searching for the criminals involved in the robberies.

Bochahan police have detained two youths of Bazidpur village for interrogation in connection with the bank robbery.

In the Sitamarhi loot case, Alok Kumar, the DSP (Sadar) of the area, said the locks of the bank shutter were broken and the safe in which the money was kept was cut. “We are investigating the matter and questioning the bank employees,” the officer said.

Police sources said the involvement of bank employees in the crime could not be ruled out.