A man donning a helmet decamped with Rs 6.63 lakh from a bank at gunpoint, only to land in the police net after his speeding bike hit a two wheeler and a customer following him alerted the law enforcers.
The man, posing as a customer, walked into the bank in Adyar area and engaged an offical in conversation, seeking details of loans without removing his helmet.
The bank official grew suspicious and asked him to remove it, police said.
The man then took out a country made pistol from a bag, pointed it to the head of the official and ordered him to fill another bag he had with cash.
He told customers he would open fire at them if they raised their voices and left after warning everyone not to alert police or follow him, a senior police official told PTI.
However another customer, a youth, followed him at a distance.
As the man approached the main road,he spotted barricades and traffic policemen stopping motorcyclists. He assumed this was being done to nab him and speeded up, only to hit a bike in front of him, the official said.
The barricades were put up as part of a road safety awareness campaign, he said.
He almost fell down and then tried to flee. At this point,the youth following him raised an alarm telling people that the man had committed a burglary and was trying to escape.
The burglar then took out the pistol from his bag and fired two shots, but none were injured.
"Our personnel say they heard two shots. But we do not know where it landed. He seems to have had his fingers on the trigger when he was pulling the pistol out. No one were injured, we are enquiring," the official added.
The man was overpowered by police, the youth and the general public who had by then gathered at the spot and handed over to police.
"The burglar claims he is Manish Kumar from Bihar. We are verifying all his claims. A probe is on.
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