Suspected militants again loot bank in Jammu and Kashmir

Srinagar: In third such incident in Kashmir since the Centre’s demonetisations move, masked gunmen robbed a bank in southern Pulwama district on Thursday, decamping with Rs 11 lakh, police and bank officials said.

Blaming it on the separatist militants, the police said that the militants are clearly faced with cash crunch in the aftermath of the move and have, therefore, turned bank robbers.

The police and witnesses said that a group of four masked men entered the Jammu and Kashmir Bank branch at Rantipora in Pulwama brandishing their AK 47 rifles at 1.15pm. They took bank officials and some of the customers present in the premises as ‘hostages’ and started breaking cash cabinets and closets before feeling from the scene with Rs 11 lakh in various denominations, including new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes.

After being informed about the robbery, the J&K police and CRPF in strength arrived on the spot and started searches in the bank neighbourhood for the robbers. No arrests could be made. Also, the security personnel briefly faced a hostile crowd of local youth who allegedly hurled stone at them, a report said.

This was the third bank robbery by suspected militants in the Valley since the Centre’s announcement of demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on November 8 and the first in past two months.

On October 25, gunmen looted Rs. 2.25 lakhs from J&K Bank’s Kardar branch in southern Kulgam district. This was followed by a similar incident that took place at the bank’s Rahimo (Pulwama district) three days later involving an amount of Rs. 2.80. On November 21, suspected militants decamped with Rs. 14 lakhs from the bank’s Mallapora, Charar-e-Sharief (Budgam district) branch. The police later claimed arresting all those allegedly involved in the robbery and said they were members of a banned militant outfit.

In yet another incident, Rs. 13.38 lakhs were looted from J&K Bank’s Ratnipora (Pulwama district) on December 8.