Burqa-Clad Hizbul Terrorists Rob Bank In Jammu And Kashmir, Escape With 5 Lakhs

Jammu and Kashmir: It was a usual Monday for officials till a group of at least three burqa-clad terrorists raided their bank in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag and escaped with over Rs 5 lakh. The police said the incident took place at the Arwani branch of the Jammu and Kashmir Bank. Once they were inside, the men took off their burqas and robbed the cashier at gunpoint.

Anantnag police have registered a case and investigating is on.

"We have studied the CCTV footage and we found that Hizbul terrorists are involved in the robbery. Efforts are on to arrest the culprits," a senior police officer said.

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetisation announcement in November last year, the number of bank robberies in the Valley has gone up. Over a dozen banks have been targeted since.

Last month, Jammu and Kashmir police had arrested Sandeep Kumar Sharma from UP's Muzaffarnagar for allegedly helping fund Lashkar-e-Taiba's terror activities by looting banks and ATMs in the Valley.

In June, unidentified persons in Pulwama took away an automated teller machine (ATM) of a private bank that had Rs 5.40 lakh. In a similar incident in April, thieves decamped with a State Bank of India ATM containing Rs 12.18 lakh in Anantnag.

Earlier in May, five policemen and two guards from a private company were killed when terrorists attacked a bank vehicle in Kulgam. Hizbul Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Two days later, two banks in Pulwama were robbed by terrorists in a span of two hours. Nearly Rs 6 lakh in cash was taken.