Patna: Armed criminals shot at and critically injured the assistant manager of a nationalised bank after he resisted a loot attempt in Begusarai district on Tuesday, close on the heels of loot of Rs 4 lakh from a private bank in Rohtas district on Monday.

A group of armed criminals barged into Muzaffara branch of UCO Bank under the jurisdiction of Birpur police station in Begusarai district and held the employees captive at gunpoint.

Thereafter they asked the assistant manager, Vijay Kumar, to hand over the keys to the chest.

When Vijay resisted, one of the robbers fired at him from close range. Another employee, who came to the assistant manager's rescue, too, was assaulted with revolver butts. As a number of customers rushed to the bank after hearing the gunshots, the robbers thought it better to escape.

The injured assistant manager was rushed to the local government hospital for treatment. Begusarai superintendent of police (SP) Aditya Kumar said the robbers also took away the CCTV hard disk inside the bank to avoid their identification. The SP said raids were on to nab the criminals. "The gang has been identified and the robbers will be brought to book at the earliest," he said over phone.

On Monday, armed criminals had looted Rs 4 lakh from Bandhan Bank located at Patel Colony under the jurisdiction of Bikramganj police station in Rohtas district after holding the employees captive.

Bikramganj police station house officer Mohammad Akram said bank manager Manik Kumar reported the incident on Tuesday, more than 12 hours after the incident. "Efforts are under way to ascertain the identity of the gang behind the crime," the SHO said.

The police said the CCTV installed at the bank was not functioning. The employees told the police that the robbers entered the bank around 6.20 pm when they were about to close the business of the day. The criminals escaped with the looted cash after shutting the door of the bank, the manager told the police.