Five bags full of gold, believed to be worth about Rs 10 crore, were looted by a group of armed robbers from the premises of Muthoot Finance in Muzaffarpur on Wednesday.

Senior superintendent of police, Manoj Kumar, said: 'We are investigating the matter. The employees of the company whose statements are being recorded, have claimed that all the robbers were armed with pistols and they took the manager at gun point, forcing him to hand over the keys to the safe.' The private finance company's officials told the police that the value of the gold looted is nearly Rs 10 crore.

The six robbers barged into the office of Muthoot Finance after one of them hit the guard Manoj Kumar Jha with the butt of his firearm.

Muthoot Finance runs schemes in which it gives loans against gold.

'They came in seeking a loan in exchange of gold. As I began guiding them inside, one of them struck the back of my head after which I fell down. I noticed them, while in a semi-conscious state, leaving the premises with bags in their hands,' Jha told reporters.

The employees claimed that one of them, carrying five bags, filled these with gold kept inside a safe while his associates kept threatening the staff and customers.