Bhubaneswar: Hundreds of customers on Saturday gheraoed the Odisha Gramya Bank at Sarangdharpur in Ranpur block in Nayagarh district, about 80km from here.

They demanded that the bank authorities should return their looted gold ornaments and cash.

On Friday, five dacoits barged into the bank and threatened the bank manager, Durga Charan Baliarsingh, at gunpoint to hand over the keys. They decamped with 256 packets containing gold and Rs 80,000 cash. At that time, not a single customer was there at the bank.

As soon as the news spread, customers, both women and men, started demonstrating holding placards before the bank and demanded their gold jewellery. "I kept my gold jewellery at the bank, which I had received from my mother during my wedding. Now, they are saying it has been looted. No amount of cash can replace the ornaments given to me by my mother. They should return my ornaments immediately," said Sabita Patra, a woman customer.

Another customer said: "I had kept my gold jewellery at the bank fearing that it would be looted from my home. Now, I don't know what to do."

Local police blamed the bank authorities for not taking adequate security measures. Inspector of Ranpur police station Girija Shankar Rath said: "They had not taken adequate security measures. Even the CCTV cameras were not working."