According to the complainant, Harikesh Ramsevak Yadav, a yarn trader and a resident of Satyamnagar area of Udhna, was returning from the Udhna branch of the Gujarat Industrial Co-operative Bank after withdrawing cash when three youths stopped him. One of them hit him with a knife on the hand and fled after snatching a bag -- hung on his shoulder -- containing Rs 55,000 in cash.

The incident, the police said, took place at a junction of road no 6 in the Udhna GIDC area at 1.45 in the afternoon. Yadav had just withdrawn the cash from the bank and was in all probability observed by the three culprits, the police added.

Recollecting the incident to the police, Yadav said that one person sitting at the back of the motorcycle held his collar and forced him to stop, while another hit him on the forearm with a knife and snatched the bag before escaping towards the Udhna railway station.

According to Yadav, the accused were about 25 years old and drove a Kawasaki Bajaj motorcycle, whose registration number he could partially recollect as 7923. Udhna PI V B Rabari is investigating further.

It may be stated that, while there have been a number of loots carried out in the industrial area in similar fashion in the past few months, a few detected cases have revealed the involvement of migrant labourers.