Three persons sustained bullet injuries after unidentified assailants opened fire at them in an attempt to loot money from a cash van of a private bank on Ferozepur-Moga road here today.
However, armed assailants failed to lay their hands on cash worth Rs 1.63 crore in the van, as its driver, in a swift and wise move, drove off the vehicle to a nearby police station, police said.
The incident occurred at around 10.15 am, when a cash van of Axis bank reached Hakumat Singh Wala branch located on Ferozepur-Moga road here.
As the employees opened the door of the van to unload the cash, assailants came in an SUV and pulled over in front of the branch and opened fire at them, leaving three persons -- guard, cash loader and cash handler injured, police added.
The assailants who reportedly came on two vehicles, including an SUV, managed to flee from the spot even as police cordoned off the area to trace them.
"The driver of the vehicle showed courage and drove the vehicle to nearby police station," Ferozepur SSP Hardial Singh Mann said adding that the entire cash was saved.
The injured have been admitted to Guru Gobind Singh Medical College Faridkot, he added.
SSP further said that there may be 3-4 assailants who came in an SUV and a car.
"We have some leads and we will soon nab them," said SSP adding that area has been cordoned off to trace them out.
The assailants after making an unsuccessful loot attempt, set their SUV on fire about 8 km from the crime spot and fled in another vehicle.
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Meanwhile, the injured were as identified as Mohinder Singh, Nirbhay Singh and Amit Kumar.
According to police, when assailants opened fire, the guard posted outside the bank's branch also returned fire.
Amidst the shootout, the driver drove the vehicle to the nearest police station in Ghal-Khurd situated, about 2 km away.
However, the robbers followed the cash-van and continued firing at the vehicle till it entered the police station and later fled the spot.
Later, the suspects set the SUV on fire, and escaped in another car, which was also following them, said SSP Ferozepur Hardial Singh Mann.
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Commenting on the incident, an Axis Bank spokesperson said no customer or employee was hurt in the incident and that the cash is safe.
All necessary medical assistance is being provided to the injured guards, the bank said, adding that the cash van was operated by Checkmate, a cash transfer agency.
