Bhubaneswar, (Reporterspen), Dec 2: Five individuals have been arrested in connection with an attempted bank robbery at Utkal Grameen Bank in Barpali, located in Odisha’s Bargarh district. The suspects, identified as Srikanta Seth (30) from Barpali, Rajat Juadi (21), Pintu Gartia (37), Deepak Barik (34), and Rinku Khamari (25) from the Sadar area, were apprehended by police following the incident.
Authorities seized a country-made pistol with two live rounds, a sharp-edged weapon, two toy pistols, two knives, two motorcycles, one car, and six mobile phones from the suspects.
On Saturday, four miscreants, one disguised as a woman, entered the bank armed with pistols and knives, taking the staff hostage while they were still inside after hours. They managed to snatch three mobile phones from the employees, but one staff member activated the siren, prompting the robbers to flee.
While escaping, one of the suspects was captured by a police team stationed nearby. “Thanks to the quick response from bank staff, the robbers were arrested in less than 24 hours,” stated IG (NR) Himanshu Kumar Lal at a press briefing.
The investigation revealed that the suspects turned to crime after suffering significant losses in online gaming, with one of them losing Rs 12 lakh. Bargarh SP Prahlad Sahai Meena added that the remaining suspects were apprehended within three hours following the interrogation of the arrested individual.
