Rs 18.80 crore in cash robbed at gunpoint from bank in Manipur's Ukhrul

Imphal: A total of Rs 18.80 crore in cash was robbed at gunpoint from a bank in Manipur's Ukhrul district by a group of 10 people, officials said on Friday.

This Punjab National Bank branch at Viewland in Ukhrul town is the currency chest -- a place where the Reserve Bank of India stocks cash meant for banks and ATMs -- for the district, they said.

A group of 10 men with their faces covered by masks reached the branch, about 80 km from state capital Imphal, around 5.40 pm on Thursday. Some of these men were in camouflage dresses and carrying sophisticated weapons, they added.

"They entered the bank not through the main entrance, but the door used by staff," Superintendent of Police Ningshem Vashum told PTI.

They then locked up the employees and the security personnel of the bank in a washroom. At gunpoint, they forced an employee to open the cash vault, following which they decamped with the money, officials said.

"We are analysing the CCTV footage. The suspects are yet to be identified," the SP said.