Patna: Criminals, posing as army personnel, are on the prowl, robbing people, in Bihar's hinterlands.

At least one of these cases were reported from Siwan's Patia village, around 140km from Patna, on Friday. Fifteen robbers, posing as army jawans, barged into a house in the village and robbed the family for four hours late on Friday night.

Krishna Singh, a resident of Patia under the jurisdiction of Hasanpura police station in Siwan district, was sleeping in the vegetable farm around 11.30pm when he was woken by the men. He did not suspect foul play when the men asked him to open his house where his family were watching IPL matches, as they were in uniform.

Once inside, the gang, however, confined the family to one of the rooms and went on the looting spree.

Krishna's elder brother, Ramashankar Singh, said on Saturday: "They were dictating terms to each member of the family. They entered the house on the pretext of carrying out a search and then started collecting cash and gold jewellery. They opened fire when the family opposed the loot."

Three members of the family - Suraj Kumar, Manu Singh and Maharaja Singh - received gunshot injuries in the robbery. Two of their neighbours, Dhodha Manjhi and Gopal Rai, were also attacked when they intervened on hearing Krishna's alarmed cry.

The women were also assaulted when they resisted the criminals' attempt to rob them of the jewellery on them. Ramashankar, a farmer, said the criminals took away cash and valuables worth Rs 2 lakh.

All the five injured have been admitted to Siwan sadar hospital for treatment where their condition was stated to be out of danger.

Hasanpura police station house officer Pankaj Kumar said a forensic team visited the spot and collected samples. He said raids were underway to nab the culprits and recover the valuables stolen.

"The statement of the injured has been recorded and an FIR lodged against unknown persons in this connection," Pankaj told The Telegraph over the phone.

This is not an isolated incident in recent times.

Last December, a similar incident was reported in Saran district, when criminal wearing police uniform entered the house of retired army jawan Maulauddin Ahwari at Maksudpur village and fled with valuables worth Rs 5 lakh.