Lone gunman loots bank, escapes on scooty

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Oct 16 : A masked armed man looted a sum of Rs 6,49,000 from the Kakching branch of United Commercial Bank (UCO) in broad daylight at around 3 pm today. The looter reportedly escaped on a moped.
According to the Manager of the bank branch Yumnam Lamyanba, the incident happened close to the closing hour of the bank.
The assailant reportedly entered the bank by forcing an unarmed security guard to guide him inside the bank at gunpoint.
After entering the bank, the armed masked man asked all the staff to go inside the Branch Manager's room after leaving their mobile phones outside the room.
The masked man who only spoke Hindi then asked the cashier of the branch to accompany him to the cash counter and forcefully took Rs 6,49,000.
He fled from the area towards Kakching Bazar Pukhrambam lane on a scooty after looting the cash. DIG Range II Haobijam Jogeshchandra and SP Kakching Th Vikramjit rushed to the spot and carried out investigation after the bank heist. Some staff of the bank were questioned by the police. It is reported that only one personnel of Manipur Home Guard was deployed in the bank at the time of incident
Kakching police have registered a case.
Hindustan Times reported that this is the seventh bank robbery-related case reported in different districts of Manipur, including Churachandpur, Kangpokpi, Ukhrul, and Imphal West, since the start of ethnic violence on May 3 last year. When contacted, the Kakching police control room said that the investigation is ongoing to apprehend the person  involved in the incident.