Bhubaneswar, April 24: Mancheswar police have detained three persons suspecting their involvement in last evening’s incident of cash loot on National Highway No. 5 near the Kuakhai river bridge.

The police said the bank employees who were looted had not followed a police advisory about informing the cops while transporting huge amounts of cash, which had led to the looting.

Six motorcycle-borne youths looted cash worth more than Rs 10 lakh from the employees of a private bank at gunpoint. The cashier and two other bank employees along with the driver were returning from an automobile showroom at Phulanakhara on the outskirts of the city last evening after collecting the cash when the looters intercepted their vehicle.

The police said the bank employees had not followed norms prescribed for transporting large amounts of cash. Deputy commissioner of police Nitinjeet Singh said the bank employees were not accompanied by their own security guards nor had they sought police help while transporting the cash.

“We have been advising people to take the help of police when they transport large amounts of cash. We provide security personnel to carriers of any amount more than Rs 1 lakh. Some people have taken our help. But in many cases, they ignore our advice and so, have to face such situations,” said Singh.

Following a series of looting incidents in the city over the last year, the police had appealed citizens to take their help while carrying large amounts of cash. The cops had even instructed all the banks in the city to inform them about people who carry huge amounts of cash without any security arrangements. But this time, the bank officials have violated the norms.

A senior police officer said that if there were security guards or policemen accompanying them, the criminals would not have dared to approach them, or would have been caught quickly with the information from them.

The bank employees and the manager of the Bomikhal branch of the private bank were interrogated today about the incident at Mancheswar police station. The bank authorities did not answer to media queries. The branch manager said the police were looking into the matter and she could not say anything.

“We have started a manhunt to arrest the culprits and are conducting raids on the hideouts of suspicious elements who are normally involved in snatching cases. We are also keeping tabs on highway robber gangs to find out if they were involved in this case,” said the police officer.