Patna, March 16: A gang of robbers looted Rs 62.19 lakh from Nokha branch of Bank of Baroda in Rohtas district today.

The dacoits took the bank employees and the customers hostage at gunpoint before carrying out the loot. The security guard of the bank was not present at the time of the incident.

Police said six criminals barged into the bank at around 9.40am, about 20 minutes before the start of business at the bank and ransacked the bank after taking the manager G. Tirky hostage at gunpoint.

They assaulted the manager, snatched the key of the locker and took away Rs 62,19,350 from the locker.

The robbers, who had covered their faces to hide their identities, also assaulted the bank officials and the customers, who had come to the bank. The robbers, said to be in the age group of 20-30 years, were in haste and finished their operation in just 15 minutes.

The bank officials raised an alarm only after the robbers fled the scene of crime. “The bank today opened at 9.40am, about 20 minutes before schedule and the criminals immediately entered the bank,” an investigating officer said.

“The role of the bank employees is being verified. It is being ascertained under what circumstances the bank started trading 20 minutes before on Wednesday and that too when the security guard had not reported to duty,” said Rohtas superintendent of police Manu Maharaj.

The operation was so meticulously planned that the police personnel could not get a wind of the incident. “The Nokha police station is at a stone’s throw distance from the place of occurrence. But the criminals had made their escape good by the time police reached the spot,” a bank account holder told The Telegraph over the phone.

A senior police officer associated with the investigation said the cash limit of the branch was Rs 12 lakh. “Under what circumstances, money beyond the cash limit was kept in the branch’s locker today,” he said, adding some bank employees have been detained for interrogation.

Residents of the area, however, blamed the police for the incident. “The police did not take any preventive action to check such incidents despite the fact that Holi was at hand and criminals usually strike at business establishments during the festival,” a resident said.

In 2003, armed criminals had snatched about Rs 34 lakh from employees of the same bank near Jakhini bridge on Sasaram-Ara road in Rohtas.