Sambalpur, April 9: In a daring broad daylight robbery, a gang of armed robbers looted around Rs 4 lakh from the Punjab National Bank at Maneswar, eight kilometres away from here.

The bank’s branch is located on the national highway that connects Cuttack with Sambalpur. A gang of five to six youths, armed with revolver and knives, looted the bank around 11.30am. “Five to six persons barged into the bank and started beating up the staff and customers. They locked us in the toilet after looting the bank,” said Lambaodar Mishra, clerk of the bank.

“As they entered into the bank, they first snatched the mobile phones from the bank staff and the customers. They were carrying a black bag with themselves. They asked Saroj Naik, a bank staff, to show them the manager’s cabin,” said Abhinendu Chowdhury, bank’s branch manager.

“Two of them took me and the cashier to the strong room at gunpoint and took away around Rs 4 lakh. They were talking to each other in Hindi. They even took away the motorcycles of Lambodar Mishra and Saroj Naik,” Chowdhury added.

Manoj Panigrahi, a local resident and shop-owner, said: “A man asked me why the door of the bank was closed, but we were not aware about the incident until the bank staff came out. A jewellery shop was looted here fifteen days ago. We have been demanding setting up of a police outpost for last two years for security issues. But the administration has so far turned a deaf ear to our demand,” he added.

Additional superintendent of police of Sambalpur, Gopal Tripathy, suspected that the robbers might be local residents. “They might be conversing in Hindi just to mislead the police,” he said.