April 3: Criminals today looted around Rs 1.32 crore in two separate incidents in Saran and Muzaffarpur districts in north Bihar.

Two homeguard jawans suffered injuries when the robbers opened fire in Saran’s Chhapra.

The daring act has set alarm bells ringing at the police headquarters, which is believed to have assigned the CID for assisting the district police in the probe. The police have, however, denied the involvement of Maoists in any of the two incidents.

In Chhapra, motorcycle-borne criminals snatched Rs 1.25 crore belonging to the Punjab National Bank near Dharan Bazaar on the border of Jalalpur and Baniapur blocks, about 90km northwest of Patna, around 1.50pm. Over 12 criminals intercepted an SUV carrying an assistant manager of Janata Bazaar branch, a cashier, the driver and three homeguard jawans as soon as the vehicle slowed down near the border and pounced on the bag containing the amount. When the jawans offered resistance, the robbers opened fire causing bullet injuries to Kusheshwar Sharma and Narayan Mahto. While Sharma received injuries to his left arm, his colleague Mahto was hit on the left thigh.

Saran superintendent of police Sujeet Kumar said all exit points of the district have been sealed and separate teams formed to crack the case. The teams headed by deputy superintendents of police carried out raids at different hideouts of gangs operating in and around Chhapra.

In Muzaffarpur, six gunmen looted Rs 6.44 lakh from the Beruwa branch of the North Bihar Kshetriya Gramin Bank under Gaighat police station, around 30km east of the district headquarters. Bank manager Priyaranjan Prakash, and a few customers present at the bank were also assaulted by the robbers.

The manager told the police that the dacoits barged into the bank around noon, held the customers and employees captive at gunpoint. They also hurled three bombs on the premises of the building to scare residents when the latter tried to foil the loot. The robbers escaped on their motorbikes towards Darbhanga after a minor altercation with the residents of Baruwa village, who rushed to the bank after hearing a bomb blast.

Tirhut zone inspector-general (IG) of police Pankaj Darad said the deputy inspector-general of Saran range, Vinod Kumar, has been asked to camp at Saran and monitor the operation launched against the criminals involved in the heist.