Balasore: Unidentified miscreants set a branch of Odisha Gramya Bank in Odisha’s Balasore district on fire before flee with gold and cash late on Tuesday.
According to sources, the robbers cut the grill of a window on the rear side of the bank at Balikhand Bazaar under Simulia police limits and decamped with cash, jewellery and other valuables from the bank. Before fleeing, they also set the bank on fire.
Noticing smoke billowing from the bank premises, locals rang up police and bank officials. It took the Fire Service personnel around 2 hours to control the blaze.
Initially, it was suspected that a short circuit might have caused the fire. The robbery was detected after bank staff and Simulia police made a spot inquiry.
Sources said that miscreants might have set the bank on fire while attempting to break open the bank lockers.
Police said, since the entire building was filled with heavy smoke, it became difficult for the fire fighters to douse the flames. Though a final estimate is yet to be made, it is feared the ornaments and cash worth lakhs of rupees were looted from the bank.
Besides, several important documents, registers, computers and other office items were destroyed in the blaze.
Simulia police have initiated a thorough inquiry into the incident.
