HYDERABAD: Armed robbers struck at Banjara Hills on Tuesday afternoon and fled with a suitcase containing Rs.20 lakhs from two employees of Karoor Vysya Bank.

A bank officer A.V.S. Reddy, along with attender C. Srinivas, boarded an autorickshaw in Dilsukhnagar at around 10.30 a.m. with Rs.42 lakhs and came to Karnataka Bank on Road No. 2 in Srinagar Colony to deposit Rs.22 lakhs in the bank's account.

Then they boarded the same autorickshaw to deposit the remaining Rs.20 lakhs in their branch office at Jubilee Hills.

As soon as they reached the Srinagar Colony `T' junction, robbers, suspected to be more than five members, came from the rear in a dark red car and stopped in front of the autorickshaw.

Two of them got down from the vehicle and threatened Mr. Srinivas and Mr. Reddy with dire consequences if they raised an alarm.

Attender injured

When Mr. Srinivas tried to prevent them from snatching the suitcase, robbers opened fire at him resulting in severe injuries on his right leg.

The robbers then escaped with cash towards Jubilee Hills. Mr. Reddy, who shifted the injured Mr. Srinivas to a corporate hospital at Banjara Hills, alerted the police.

"It all happened within seconds. They suddenly stopped their car in front of my vehicle. There were several onlookers, but nobody moved," autorickshaw driver Ramavath Tirupathi told reporters.

Police officials said ballistic experts would confirm the type of firearm used by the robbers after removing the bullet from Mr. Srinivas's leg. Meanwhile, senior officials, who rushed to the spot, reportedly reprimanded bank officials for carrying huge cash without any security personnel.

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