Cash van robbery: Driver, gunman held, Rs.67.5 lakh still missing
By IANSThursday, February 3, 2011
NEW DELHI - The driver of a bank’s cash van and a gunman who had fled with Rs.67.5 lakh which were to be deposited in ATM booths across Delhi have been arrested, police said Thursday. However, the cash is yet to be recovered.
Driver of the van Gautam, 20, gunman Sandeep Kumar, 24, and their associate Arun Singh, 33, were arrested Wednesday.
Kumar and Gautam were held in Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh while Singh was apprehended from Samalkha in Delhi, Joint Commissioner of Police (special cell) R.S. Krishnia said.
All three are from Etah in Uttar Pradesh.
Gautam and Sandeep fled with Rs.67.5 lakh which were to be deposited in ATM booths across the city. The incident happened in south Delhi’s Alakananda area Jan 28 evening and the accused even managed to disable the Global Positioning System in the vehicle.
While the van was found in Faridabad the next day, the empty cash box was recovered Wednesday from Mathura.
“They told us that the Rs.67.5 lakh is in the possession of one of their associates. Efforts are on to nab him,” Krishnia said.
The driver and the gunman, who had given fake names and addresses to their company, planned the robbery jointly with three other men.
On Jan 28, the duo left Patel Nagar at 9.30 a.m. along with their custodians Suraj and Rajesh.
They loaded Rs.97.5 lakh from an HDFC Bank branch into the cash van and reached the HDFC Bank ATM in Alakananda at around 3.15 p.m.
Suraj and Rajesh went to the booth to load some cash and pulled down the shutter at the time of loading.
Meanwhile, Gautam and Sandeep went up to the guard at the booth and Sandeep handed over his gun “to avoid any suspicion”.
However, when Rajesh and Suraj came out they saw the van was missing. When approached, the guard narrated the incident, and sensing something amiss since the van hadn’t returned for a long while, the two informed their company manager.
Krishnia said the duo were followed in a car by their three associates, and efforts were on to arrest the remaining two.
