Radha Kant Thakur (left) at Kazi Mohammadpur police station in Muzaffarpur on Thursday. Picture by Gopi Raman

Muzaffarpur, Nov. 24: Two armed criminals looted Rs 5.8 lakh from a retired police inspector, Radha Kant Thakur, 65, at gunpoint near Langat Singh College at 1.10pm today.

The incident sent shivers down the spine of the onlookers, who witnessed the robbery unfold. Police said two motorbike-borne criminals intercepted an autorickshaw near the college, one of the busiest spots in the town, under Kazi Mohammadpur police station.

Brandishing guns at Thakur, who was seated in the three-wheeler, they snatched a moneybag from him in front of his shocked co-passengers. Thakur did not dare to resist the criminals.

The former cop had withdrawn the money from the Red Cross building branch of State Bank of India for his granddaughter’s wedding. The criminals struck when he was on way to his Mithanpura house.

Thakur told the police: “I suspected I was being watched as I stepped out of the bank at Company Bagh. On my way home, the incident occurred.”

Shibli Nomani, the deputy superintendent of police (DSP), east, also holding the additional charge of town, confirmed the incident.

The police said they were trying to identify the criminals and nab them.