Armed men rob Reliance Fresh store

They flee with Rs 1.4 lakh, CCTV captures dacoity

Five armed assailants barged into a Reliance Fresh outlet in north-east Delhi’s Shahdara and robbed Rs 1.40 lakh at gunpoint on Tuesday. Police have recovered CCTV footage.

Police said the incident took place around 6 am when the outlet receives daily stock of vegetables and milk.

“Some employees were counting the stock when five men with covered faces and country-made pistols barged into the outlet,” a police officer said.

The robbers held the employees at gunpoint and rolled down the shutter. They later told the employees to open a locker and decamped with Rs 1.40 lakh in cash. As per the CCTV footage, the gang left within six minutes of entering the outlet. “They were first seen at 6.35 am and left the premises at 6.41 am,” the officer added.

While leaving the outlet, the accused also attacked an employee with the butt of a pistol. After an initial probe, police believe that an insider was involved.

“In the CCTV footage, the robbers are seen calmly entering the outlet as if they knew what would be happening at that time,” the officer said.

Also the time chosen by the robbers — two hours before the outlet opens — indicates that they knew about few employees being present.

A case of robbery has been registered with Shahdara police station and officers are scanning CCTV footage to ascertain the identity of the accused.

Investigating officers have also questioned the outlet’s employees to verify any insider’s involvement.

The incident comes a day after a similar gang of robbers held a businessman and his employees hostage for 20 minutes in north Delhi’s Lahori Gate and stabbed one of them before decamping with Rs 12 lakh in cash.

The robbers had entered the shop disguised as customers. Once inside, they covered their faces with handkerchiefs and ransacked the shop at knifepoint.