Six armed persons raided a branch of Axis Bank in Bihar’s Araria on Tuesday and looted around Rs 90 lakh after holding bank officials and customers hostage at gunpoint.

The incident occurred at the bank branch at the ADB Chowk in the town, 320km northeast of the state capital. Incidentally, the place is hardly a couple of hundred metres from the residence of the local sub-divisional police officer.

The miscreants entered the bank branch and fired twice to terrorise the people present inside before moving ahead to collect the cash kept there.

“They (the miscreants) entered the branch a little after noon, gathered everyone present inside, including bank employees and customers, at gunpoint and locked them inside the ‘chest’ room (strong room). They grabbed the money that was available inside and escaped,” Axis Bank Araria branch manager Neeraj Kumar told reporters.

Sources said that the miscreants decamped with around Rs 90 lakh and also fired a couple of bullets from their weapons while looting the bank. However, there was no official statement from the bank about the amount looted till the time of filing the report. The police rushed to the spot after getting information about the incident.

Araria superintendent of police (SP) Ashok Kumar Singh told The Telegraph: “Six unknown miscreants arrived at the bank branch on three motorcycles and robbed it in 15 to 20 minutes. They took around Rs 90 lakh with them. We are trying to identify and arrest them.”

Singh added that the bank robbers had to flee due to the prompt action of the police.

“Nobody has been killed in the incident. We will soon arrest the people involved in the loot,” the Araria SP said.

The police were also going through footage from CCTV cameras at the bank and the neighbourhood installations.