Targeted at their first stop

Victims intercepted en route to put money in ATM

The four employees of the cash replenishment agency, who were attacked in north Delhi on Saturday, had left their office in north-east Delhi’s Mansarovar Park with Rs 1.5 crore and were scheduled to refill the Citibank ATM with Rs 18 lakh, police said.

It was the first stop of the shift for security guard Satender Singh, driver Govind and custodians Deepak and Ghanshyam Pandey of Scientific Security Management Services.

They had reached Bungalow Road UB-Block around 11 am. Police have obtained CCTV footage and video clips made by locals, but have failed to identify the two motorcycle-borne assailants.

“They kept their faces covered with helmets and the registration number of the motorcycle has also turned out to be fake,” said a police officer.

CCTV footage hints that they were not professional criminals and Satender was surprised by the sudden attack.

Satender was carrying a double-barrel rifle, but was shot when he tried to resist the daring strike.

The 28-year-old was rushed to the Sushruta trauma centre, where he was operated upon but succumbed to injuries later in the day.

The brazen action on a busy street in Kamla Nagar was over in few minutes, eyewitness said. Locals raised an alarm when the accused were trying to flee, but nobody dared to face them.

“Whenever they got stuck in traffic, they just reversed the motorcycle and took a different route. The man riding pillion was also finding it difficult to carry the suitcase,” said Sandeep, an eyewitness. The two men also had enough time when the pillion rider dropped the suitcase near the ATM booth of Kotak Mahindra and got off the vehicle to pick it up.

After a preliminary investigation, police suspect involvement of present and former employees of the cash replenishment agency and have sought their assistance to prepare a list of names.

“Looking at the way the robbery took place, it appears that it was well-planned. The robbers were apparently aware of the route that the van was going to take,” the officer added.

A case under the Indian Penal Code and Arms Act has been filed with Roop Nagar police station and a forensic team has collected evidence, including fingerprints.
The spot was later visited by senior policemen, including Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Deepak Mishra. Several teams of north and central district police are working on the case along with Crime Branch and Special Cell.

Help of south district police has also been sought due to their experience in cracking the Defence Colony heist in which a gang of armed assailants had waylaid and took away the cash van carrying over Rs 5 crore in September 2012.