Bengaluru, Jul 20 (IANS): A man with an old criminal record was on Monday hacked to death in a bank by a gang of seven or eight masked men who barged into premises, leaving customers and staffers in fear and panic, police said.

According to the police, the deceased was identified as Joseph aka Babli, 42, a resident of Adugodi in Bengaluru.

The police said that the incident took place when Joseph had come, along with his wife and his eight-year-old daughter, for some transactions in a bank in Koramangala 8th block, around 1.30 p.m.

Joseph

"A gang of seven to eight masked men followed him on their bikes and attacked him with sharp lethal weapons, machetes, and swords. The gang left when severely injured Joseph collapsed on the floor. Joseph died on the spot, as he was declared dead at the hospital," a police officer said.

Police claimed that though no cases were booked against Joseph after 2011 but he still had a criminal record wih Adugodi police, facing cases for murder, attempt to murder and other crimes. "During his heydays, his rivalry with a gang led by Viveknagar rowdy sheeter George is well known. It is suspected that he could be behind this gruesome killing," the police said.

The police added that after 2011, Joseph reportedly was into the civil contract business and leading a peaceful life with his wife and daughter.

Additional Commissioner of Police, East, S. Murugan, who visited the spot, told reporters that police was collecting evidence and will nab the criminals at the earliest.

"We have formed special teams to nab the assailants at the earliest," he said, adding that police is analysing the CCTV footage installed in the bank and surrounding buildings.

Along with Murugan, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Southeast, Srinath Mahadev Joshi, also visited the spot, and a team of Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) officials and the dog squad also came to collect evidence.