Hours After Killing Cash Van Guard, Robbers Shoot At Man In Another State

After shooting the guard of an ATM cash vehicle in Karnataka's Bidar on Thursday afternoon and escaping with Rs 93 lakh in cash, two robbers opened fire at another person in Hyderabad hours later.

The latest victim, who works as a manager at a private travel firm, sustained injuries and is undergoing treatment at a hospital. An alert has been sounded in the entire city and efforts are underway to arrest the accused, the police added. 

The incident took place at Afzal Gunj area when the robbers were preparing to board a bus to travel to Raipur. 

Sources said the two men arrived in Hyderabad on a bike after committing the murder and robbery in Bidar and then visited a private travel agency's office to book tickets for a bus to Raipur.

The agency's owner, Rais Ahmad, told reporters that the two men visited his office between 3pm and 4pm. 

"One of them introduced himself as Amit Kumar. Their bus was scheduled to leave at around 7pm. We usually inspect luggage if we find anything suspicious. When our manager, Jahangir, asked them to open their bag, the accused took out a few bundles of notes and tried to bribe him. When Jahangir insisted on seeing the contents of the bag, the accused opened fire at him and subsequently escaped," Mr Ahmad said. 

Jahangir underwent a surgery and is recovering in a hospital, he added. 

Earlier in the day, the two men shot dead an ATM cash vehicle guard and injured another as they looted Rs 93 lakh from the vehicle in Bidar. The incident took place in front of the State Bank of India's (SBI's) main branch in the city, where the van was parked to reload an ATM. 

One of the guards in the vehicle, Giri Venkatesh, died on the spot, while another guard, Shivakumar, sustained injuries. Doctors said that Shivakumar is in a critical condition.

Before opening fire, the robbers threw chilli powder on the guards, police said. Although local residents raised an alarm, threw stones at them, and attempted to catch them, the robbers managed to escape.