Two men held up an SSML employee at gunpoint yesterday afternoon shortly after he had collected an undisclosed sum of money from the Birkirkara branch of HSBC Bank. The hold-up took place at around 1.15pm.

As the courier returned to his van, he was assaulted by two hooded men who told him to hand over the bag he was carrying. The men made off with the bag but the courier was unhurt, the police said.

The thieves fled the scene in a get-away vehicle in which there was a third person, which was later found in Birkirkara.

Magistrate Antonio Mizzi is leading the inquiry and has appointed various experts to help him. The police are also continuing their investigations.

In a statement issued later in the afternoon, HSBC said that a security guard force employee had been assaulted near one of its branches. “The bank advises that the incident did not take place inside its branch and no customers or employees were involved,” the bank said.

HSBC branches have state-of-the-art security technology, including CCTV cameras which are monitored centrally. The bank said it is assisting the police in their investigation.