Bengaluru: An alert security staff thwarted a four-member gang’s attempt to loot the office of a private gold loan firm at Vijayanagar here on Tuesday noon. According to senior police officers, four men wearing helmets barged into the branch office of IIFL at RPC Layout around 12.15 pm and threatened the staff with revolvers.

The security guard, who heard the staff members’ screams for help, rushed to the office with his colleague. Fearing that they might be caught, the gang members rushed out of the office and escaped on their motorcycles.

Preliminary inquiries revealed that the security guard let the khaki-clad gang members inside the office believing them to be policemen. When the security guard entered the office along with his colleague after hearing the commotion inside, the gang members made a quick exit.

According to eyewitness, the gang members carried weapons, probably toy guns, to threaten the office staff. “We suspect that they were no toy guns but sharp weapons such as choppers or machetes wrapped in newspapers. A special team has been formed to trace the gang members,” the police said. A case has been registered in Vijayanagar police station.