Bantwal: Thieves broke into the Sri Bhagavathi Co-operative Bank Ltd on BC Road in Bantwal taluk and decamped with gold ornaments worth Rs six crore and Rs 1.43 lakh in cash.

The bank had neither deployed a security guard nor had CCTV cameras installed on its premises, investigators said. The burglars had also disconnected the siren of the locker. Iron rods were used for breaking open the locker.

Around 22.282 kg of gold was stolen after thieves gained entry into the bank by breaking open its rear window. The incident came to light on Monday morning.

Branch manager Sathish Rao had reportedly locked the bank’s strongroom on January 10 at 2 pm. As is the practice, he kept one key with himself and gaven another to employee Kamalaksha. Suresh, an attender, had locked the main door of the branch. The burglary must have occurred either on Saturday or Sunday night, Rao told the police.

As the news spread, people who had pledged their gold ornaments rushed to the bank on Monday seeking to know what had happened to their jewellery. Sri Bhagavathi Co-operative Bank, with its headquarters in Jeppu, Mangaluru, has been operating for the past 20 years.