Patna, March 15: Four bike-borne criminals shot dead an employee of Cooperative Bank and injured his colleague in a bid to snatch Rs 15 lakh from the duo at Rafiganj in Aurangabad district on Thursday.

The deceased employee was identified as Babu Lal Sao.

The incident occurred around 3pm, when the two Cooperative Bank employees, Sao and Jagannath Prasad, were walking back to their bank branch after withdrawing the amount from the nearby Punjab National Bank.

Eyewitnesses said four men on two motorcycles intercepted the duo near Rafiganj police station and ordered Sao to hand over the bag containing Rs 11 lakh. On being refused, one of the robbers fired at the duo from close range and snatched the bag before speeding away.

Though Prasad suffered bullet injuries in the attack, the criminals could not take away Rs 4 lakh that Prasad was carrying with him. “Before we could react, one of the criminals took out a pistol and fired at us,” Prasad told the police at Rafiganj sadar hospital where he is undergoing treatment.

Panicked shopkeepers downed shutters immediately.

Police said there was no security guard at the bank. “There is neither any security guard nor any CCTV camera at the bank,” said a senior police officer.

Gaya city superintendent of police Satyavir Singh, holding additional charge of Aurangabad at present, said a special team headed by deputy superintendent of police Vijay Kumar had been constituted to ascertain the identity of the gang and recover the money.