A youth walked into a primary agriculture cooperative bank at Avathana-patti village, six km from Krishnagiri, Monday evening and handed over a letter to secretary Nagarajan seeking permission to rob it.
He sought cooperation of the bank staff and warned of dire consequences if attempts were made to foil the robbery bid.
The youth signalled Mr Nagarajan to part with cash and when he resisted, threatened him to use a gun.
However, the secretary said, the man fled “seeing arriving bank customers”.
Mr Nagarajan later reported the incident to Krishnagiri Dam Police, which is investigating it.