A youth suffered a bullet injury when three armed burglars open fired while escaping after a failed robbery at the office of a gold loan agency in Birbhum’s Suri on Monday morning.

Sources said the robbers had opened fire at Mubarak Khan, 30, when he tried to catch one of them. The bullet hit Khan in his right leg and he has been admitted to Suri district hospital. Doctors said he was stable.

Police said five robbers held five security persons of the private agency at gunpoint and asked them to unlock the office gate around 9am.

“While lifting the shutter, the automated alarm system got activated which panicked the criminals and they started to flee. The burglars were carrying arms and had their faces covered with masks. They were speaking in Hindi,” said Mithun Mondal, one of the security persons.

The police said the robbers had come on two motorbikes but left behind one on the premises of the agency office while escaping. While three fled on a bike, two began to run through the narrow roads with people chasing them. “Fearing that they would get caught, the robbers opened fire and a bullet hit Khan,” said an officer.

Police sources said the bike left behind by the goons was found to be a stolen one. “It appears that the gang hailed from neighbouring Jharkhand,” said a police source.

Nagendranath Tripathi, Birbhum police chief, said: “A search is on to nab the gang.”