Car bound gunmen snatch Rs 2.27 lakh

The two injured officials, Raghuveer Mukund Kelkar (29) of Dattawadi and Shrikant Ramkrishna Hardikar (30) of Paud Road, have been hospitalised. Hospital authorities said they were out of danger.

Kelkar and Hardikar were on their way deposit the daily collections at the Model Colony branch of Bank of Baroda on a Hero Honda.

Eye witnesses said, the car was parked on Ghole Road since 11.30 a.m. Three youths who alighted from it, intercepted the Hero Honda when it slowed down at the chowk in front of the bank and snatched the bag from Hardikar.

The youths fired a bullet at Hardikar when he tried to resist. Kelkar was stabbed with a sickle when he tried to intervene. Over a dozen people present in the vicinity fled.

An injured Kelkar chased the robbers for about 100 feet who opened fire but their guns misfired. As many as six live rounds were later collected from the scene.

On a tip-off, some staffers of Tata Finances rushed to the spot and shifted the injured to Sassoon Hospital. Hardikar was later shifted to a private hospital. A surgery was performed on Kelkar at Sassoon Hospital to remove the sickle stuck in his back.

Kelkar and Hardikar were assigned to deposit the daily collections some months ago. Normally, a four-wheeler is used for the job. On Monday a four-wheeler was not available.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ramrao Pawar said a massive manhunt has been launched to track down the culprits. Pune police have alerted their counterparts in Mumbai, Satara and Ahmednagar. Vigil has been intensified in the rural outskirts of the city. All vehicles on the five highways leading out of Pune are being checked. Railway stations and bus termini are also being scanned. Lodges and guest houses are also being checked.