Policemen investigate the site of the robbery on Tuesday afternoon. Picture by Ritesh Chourasiya

Patna, Dec. 16: Mystery shrouds daylight robbery of 14kg gold and Rs 1.5 lakh in cash from a Kerala-based non-banking financial company in Ara this afternoon.

According to police, around six armed youths laid siege to the first-floor office of Manappuram Finance Limited at Nawada locality in the town, around 60 km west of Patna.

The gold could have market value of around Rs 3.8 crore, as per rough estimates done by The Telegraph.

“The employees told us that the criminals entered the office posing as customers. Once in, they immediately got out their firearms and overpowered at least eight persons who were in the office then. As per their statements, the criminals forcibly made them open the currency chest and took away cash and gold ornaments,” Bhojpur superintendent of police Akhtar Hussain said. He added that necessary investigations and verifications were being carried out.

The police recorded statements of all the employees who were at the office at the time of attack — around 3.30pm.

“The CCTV camera clippings have been taken too and they are being watched. No arrests have taken place until now and it is quite difficult to say the total worth of the gold stolen,” Hussain said.

Hussain added that that the police were suspicious about a few things.

“The spot where the office is located is like a marketplace. The office is located on the first floor of a two-storied building. The landlord stays on the second floor. No one knows as to how did the men arrive on the spot. There may be a chance that they were on foot and just walked according to a plan. Moreover, neither the landlord nor any other people in the area did realise that the dacoity was in progress.”

Several other points are also being investigated.

“It is only after the men had left with the cash and ornaments stashed in three bags that the alarm was hit by the employees. There are several things, which need to be checked carefully and verified and the police are doing just that. The police will come up with sketches of these criminals too. The indulgence of someone in the company cannot be denied too,” SP Hussain added.

“Right now, the police have not reached at any conclusions and the whole incident is being investigated. It is strange that the men came on foot, took away so much of gold and then walked off so very easily. Once they were out, the employees could have raised an alarm immediately. There is a chance that a vehicle was waiting for them at a distance. All the angles are being looked into and there will be a breakthrough soon,” another police officer said.

Manappuram is a Kerala-based finance company founded in 1949 but its expansion began in 1986. The company, which is into gold loan business too, claims to have around 3,300 branches across 26 states in the country at present.