Five masked and armed criminals carried out a daylight robbery at the Canara Bank branch in Golmuri Market on Thursday morning, fleeing with pledged gold and cash worth an estimated ₹33.60 crore. The perpetrators entered the bank early, restrained staff and security personnel, and forced the branch manager at gunpoint to surrender the safe keys. Around 23.80 kg of pledged gold valued at ₹33.20 crore and ₹40 lakh in cash were packed into backpacks before the gang slipped away through different routes across the town.
Staff Bound and Held at Gunpoint Inside Safe Room
The raid began at approximately 9:10 am when the criminals, who had reached the area on separate motorcycles, took advantage of cleaning staff arriving to open the premises. Shortly after, security guard Santosh Kumar reached the branch and was dragged inside by one of the armed men. When he resisted, he was struck on the face and head with a pistol butt, sustaining serious injuries. The assailants used cello tape to bind the hands and legs of the staff members and the guard, warning them against raising an alarm.
As other employees and Branch Manager Ajit Kumar arrived for work, they were similarly taken captive. One of the robbers held a pistol to the manager’s head while another photographed him with a mobile phone. Under threat of violence, the manager surrendered the safe keys. The gang emptied the safe of cash and pledged gold but bypassed individual customer deposit lockers, indicating that their primary objective was the high-value pledged bullion stored on the premises.
Multiple Escape Routes Recorded on Surveillance Cameras
The criminals remained inside the branch for roughly an hour before leaving at around 10:12 am. Upon exiting, they split up to avoid capture. Two suspects took a motorcycle parked near Khalsa Hotel and escaped along Golmuri Main Road, while another pair rode off toward Lohar Line. The fifth suspect fled on foot through a nearby lane, where CCTV cameras recorded him putting on a raincoat from his bag before disappearing into the surrounding area.
Senior police officials arrived at the scene shortly after the alarm was raised. Rural SP Shubham Khandelwal, City DSP Sanjeev Kumar, and Traffic DSP Neeraj Kumar reached the bank alongside personnel drawn from seven police stations. Forensic teams quickly cordoned off the area to lift fingerprints and retrieve material evidence from the branch interior.
Special Investigation Team Formed as Depositors Seek Answers
To track down the perpetrators, the police department constituted a Special Investigation Team headed by the City SP, comprising nine DSPs, station house officers from seven police stations, and approximately 200 personnel. The injured security guard was moved to a local hospital, where he continues to receive medical attention for head and facial injuries.
Following the incident, anxious customers gathered outside the branch premises, seeking clarity regarding the safety of their pledged assets. The robbery has prompted serious questions regarding customer compensation for stolen gold jewellery. Recent legal precedents, including a ruling by the Karnataka State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, established that a bank’s liability in the theft of pledged items extends beyond simple gold weight to account for making charges and embedded stones. The final settlement terms for the affected borrowers in Jamshedpur will depend on bank liabilities and established regulatory processes.
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