Five armed men looted the State Bank of India (SBI) branch located at K Salbung, Tuibong subdivision in Churachandpur district and got away with Rs 15 lakh in cash around 2 pm on Thursday.
As per a complaint report lodged at Churachandpur Police by the branch manager of the SBI Salbung Branch (64016), one of the individuals wore a bike helmet while the others wore face masks and a cap to conceal their identities.
Armed with pistols, they took all the money at gunpoint from the cash counter (Counter No 02), it stated. The bulk of the money belongs to SBI while a small portion of it belongs to the customers who had either come to withdraw or deposit money at the branch, it added.
It mentioned that they attempted to fire a shot inside the branch manager cabin but it misfired. They had also fired a shot outside the premises of the branch, and one bullet has been recovered in front of counter No 03, which has been handed over to the police, it said.
Most banks, except some, have no proper security guard in place, as per sources. K Salbung Branch of SBI was a newly established branch inaugurated on October 5, 2022 by MLA Paolienlal Haokip.
This was the third instance of Banks being looted in Churachandpur since last year with the other two being Axis Bank and Manipur Hills and Backwards Development Cooperative Bank Ltd, both of which were looted in 2023.
