The assailants shot at Bhagawan Baral, an employee at the Sabhagrihachok-based Yeti Development Bank, and whisked away his bag containing the cash. Baral, 21, of Pumdibhumdi-4 is undergoing treatment at Manipal Teaching Hospital in a critical condition. He was shot in the head.  

Baral was attacked on his way to the bank after receiving the cash from Mega Saving and Credit Cooperative. The assailants opened fire targeting Baral while he was climbing down the ladders of the cooperative.  One of the looters took a security guard of the cooperative, Govinda Bahadur Thapa, under control while two others attacked Baral. After the incident, the looters fled behind the building.

“He stuffed my mouth with his hands and knocked me down on the floor. He asked his friends to shoot and flee,” Thapa narrated the incident. Police took Thapa under control for investigation.

Police recovered a bullet and two shells from the incident site. Superintendent of Police Basanta Kumar Lama said the incident seemed to be a planned one. “It seems that people familiar with the location are involved,” said Lama. According to the bank, Baral, who has been serving for two years, is a trusted employee.

Police said an investigation is under way while the role of some of the employees at both the institutions has been suspected.

Anurag Shrestha, manager of the cooperative, said the institute deposits cash in the bank in the evening and withdraws it in the morning. On Monday morning, he added, the cooperative had withdrawn Rs 4 million.