The branch manager of a private finance company sustained a bullet injury when two armed men made a futile bid to rob the place on Tuesday morning here in Mariyappanapalya, near Jnanabharathi.
Sudhakar (59), manager of Muthoot Finance’s branch, was rushed to hospital. The bullet grazed his abdomen. Doctors who operated on him described his condition as stable.
Anupam Agarwal, Superintendent of Police of Ramanagaram, said the robbery attempt took place around 11.15 a.m. at the first-floor branch when only two staff members were present.
While one of the men held Mr. Sudhakar at gunpoint, his accomplice, who was wearing a helmet, tried to snatch the chain of Tejaswini, the other employee.
With great presence of mind, Mr. Sudhakar pressed the alarm button immediately after the threat. Assuming the pistol was a fake, he then tried to wrest it from the gunman’s hand.
At this point, the helmeted man shot him from a distance of 7 or 8 feet and the bullet grazed the side of his abdomen. Unnerved by the spirited resistance, the two men dropped the weapon, fled downstairs to their third accomplice who was waiting for them on a bike and escaped.
Mr. Sudhakar was rushed to the nearby Utility Lifeline Hospital in Nagarabhavi.
Superintendent of Police Anupam Agarwal said the firm’s branch had not hired any security guard and the CCTV cameras were dysfunctional. The police suspect the three miscreants, all in their 20s, to be professionals.
They have seized a country-made pistol along with a cloth bag.
