Gunmen loot 2 banks in 2 hours in Pulwama

Unidentified gunmen on Wednesday looted cash from two banks within a span of two hours in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district which has been witnessing attacks on financial institutions for the past three consecutive days, police said.
A police official said three masked gunmen entered Wahibug branch of Ellaquai Dehati Bank at about 1:30 pm and looted Rs five lakh on gunpoint. “After collecting the cash, they (gunmen) managed to escape from the spot,” he said.
Soon after the incident, police and army reached the spot and questioned the employees and witnesses.
In another incident, masked gunmen entered a Jammu and Kashmir Bank branch at Nihama Kakapora at about 3.30 pm.
“Four gunmen entered the bank and looted about 1.30 lakh from there. We have registered a case and started investigation,” another police official said.
Pertinently, gunmen have struck at banks in south Kashmir areas four times in the past three days.
On Tuesday, gunmen barged into Yaripora branch of Ellaquai Dehati Bank and decamped with Rs 65,000, according to police. On May 1, unidentified gunmen attacked a cash van of the Jammu and Kashmir Bank and shot dead five policemen and two bank employees at Damhal Hanji Pora in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district. The militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen had claimed the responsibility for the attack but denied that Hizb cadres killed two bank employees.