Transfer agency staffer shot dead, another badly injured in ATM cash van robbery

Bidar: A 37-year-old ‘cash custodian’ died on the spot, while his 35-year-old colleague suffered grievous injuries when two unidentified assailants fired at them, before fleeing with a trunk containing Rs 92 lakh in the heart of the city on Thursday morning. 

The deceased is Giri Venkatesh Mallappa of Chidri area in the city, while the injured has been identified as Shivakumar, a resident of Ladageri area. Shivakumar was rushed to a private hospital in Hyderabad, where is undergoing treatment in the ICU.

The duo worked for CMS, a private money transfer agency that collects cash from banks daily and loads them into ATMs across the city.    

Police said Giri Venkatesh Mallappa and Shivakumar had taken the cash trunk from the SBI main branch here at around 10.30 am and were loading it into the company vehicle, when the assailants came in a bike. 

The assaulted the ‘cash custodians’ and tried in vain to snatch the cash trunk from them. They then threw chilli powder at the duo, fired at them, snatched the trunk and sped away on the motorcycle, police said. 

A heavily bleeding Giri Venkatesh died on the spot, while Shivakumar was taken to BRIMs hospital. He was administered first aid there and then taken to Hyderabad.

A few onlookers tried to stop the thieves by throwing stones, but they fired in the air to scare away the people and fled. 

It is said that the gunman of CMS who accompanied the ‘cash custodians’ daily while transporting cash was on leave on Thursday, thereby creating a security loophole.    

The dog squad, the forensic and fingerprints experts visited the spot. Samples were taken from there for analysis. 

Police resorted to mild caning to disperse crowds that gathered at the busy spot, not far from the DC office and the district courts complex. They later barricaded the road for the rest of the day.