Agartala, Nov 23 (IANS): Armed criminals fired at and injured two banking business correspondents - who help banks take their services to people's doorstep - and looted from them Rs 3.25 lakh meant for rural jobs scheme in Tripura, police said here on Wednesday.
The hiest occurred late Tuesday at Hachupara, 65 km south of here.
"While two business correspondents -- Samrat Bhowmik, 42, and Avik Kumar Dey, 38 -- were carrying the Rs 3.25 lakh to distribute the money among the workers of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), the culprits fired at them and looted the cash," sub-divisional police officer Sharmistha Chakraborty told reporters.
Tripura Gramin Bank, a regional rural bank, has engaged local youths and retired bank officials as banking business correspondents to extend banking services to the doorstep of rural people.
The injured were admitted at the Udaipur district hospital.
"Police and paramilitary personnel have launched a massive manhunt to nab the criminals," the police official said, adding the attackers were not terrorists but local armed criminals.
