Nashik: A Keralite employee of a leading gold finance firm was killed and three others were injured after a gang of five armed robbers Friday stormed into their office here and opened fire, a police official said.
The incident occurred around 11:30am. However, the robbers failed to loot any valuables, he said.
"A gang of five masked robbers, wielding pistols and an axe, stormed into the office of Muthoot Finance located near City Centre Mall in Untwadi locality of the city. At that time, five employees of the firm and eight customers were present there. The robbers snatched mobile phones of the employees and customers," Nashik Commissioner of Police Vishwas Nangre-Patil said.
"They wanted to loot the cash from the office. However, they panicked after one of the employees switched on the siren. After that, the robbers fired five rounds, in which computer engineer of the firm, Sajju Samuel, 32, who hails from Arunoottimangalam near Mavelikara in Kerala's Alappuzha district, died on the spot," he said.
Branch manager C B Deshpande, 64, another employee Kailash Jain, 25, and one more person suffered injuries in the incident. They were admitted to Nashik Civil Hospital, he said.
According to Nangre-Patil, a dog squad and forensic experts have been pressed into service and a 'nakabandi' operation is being on conducted to trace the culprits.
(With inputs from PTI)