Gaya police on Wednesday claimed to have busted an inter-state gang of bank robbers following the arrest of five persons from Sherghati police station area of the district.

The police also seized Rs 2.26 lakh in cash, gold jewellery worth Rs 1.5 crore, six country-made pistols and 30 live cartridges during a raid at a house in Krishnapuri locality of the sub-divisional town, around 50km southwest of the Gaya district headquarters.

Gaya senior superintendent of police (SSP) Garima Malik said that acting on a tip-off, a team raided different criminal hideouts in Gaya and Aurangabad districts and arrested five robbers. During interrogation, they confessed to their involvement in 10 bank robberies and heists in Bihar, Jharkhand and Bengal. The latest incident took place in Gaya's Madhya Bihar Gramin Bank (Parsaha branch) in which they looted Rs 20 lakh in cash last November.

The SSP said the arrested persons' names had also surfaced in the loot of Rs 36 lakh from a State Bank of India branch in Banka early this year, Rs 62 lakh from Bank of Baroda in Rohtas in 2011, Rs 6 lakh from Madhya Bihar Gramin Bank in Aurangabad, Rs 25 lakh from State Bank of India and Rs 3 lakh from Gramin Bank at Kodarma in Jharkhand.

The SSP said Bengal police, too, were looking for thegang for its involvement in the loot of Rs 6 lakh from Uco Bank, Rs 5.5 lakh from United Bank and Rs 4 lakh from Uco Bank in Howrah in 2008 and Rs 9 lakh from Dena Bank in Durgapur in 2007, respectively.

An investigating officer said one of the arrested persons, identified as Manoj Kumar, was posted as a teacher in Aurangabad district. His two associates, identified as Sanjay and Rajesh, were arrested on the basis of information given by Manoj. The police later nabbed two other suspects, including a woman.

In another incident, Vaishali police apprehended three criminals when they were fleeing after snatching Rs 35,000 from an employee of Bandhan Bank at Paroo in Muzaffarpur district on Wednesday.

Apart from the looted cash, the police seized two country-made pistols, six cellphones and a few live cartridges from the possession of criminals identified as Anil Sahni and Bhim Sahni, residents of Jehanabad, and Mohammad Jabbar, a resident of Repura in Muzaffarpur district.

Vaishali superintendent of police Rakesh Kumar said the police recovered the looted money within two hours of the crime.

The arrested persons were produced before the local court, which remanded them to 14 days judicial custody.