Three bike-borne assailants shoot at cash van gunman

The gunman of a cash replenishment agency van was shot in his head during a robbery bid by three motorcycle-borne assailants in west Delhi’s Uttam Nagar on Wednesday.

One of the accused was overpowered, while his accomplices managed to flee on the motorcycle.
They were wearing helmets, police said.

The injured gunman has been identified as 23-year-old Kaka Ram Sharma, a resident of Rajouri Garden. He was one of two gunmen posted with the cash van.

According to police, the incident occurred at around 9.30 pm near Rama Park on Najafgarh Road.
“The staff of the cash van were there to deposit cash in a Kotak Mahindra Bank ATM,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Pushpender Kumar. Five persons, including one custodian, were travelling with the cash van.

Two men went inside the ATM booth with cash bags after which the shutter was closed.
A gunman was standing outside the ATM booth, while the second was with the cash van along with the driver.

“Soon, three men arrived there on a motorcycle. They had a conversation with the gunman standing near the cash van. Without any warning, one of the assailants opened fire at the gunman standing near the ATM booth,” Kumar added.

The gunman, Kaka, sustained a gunshot wound in his head. In retaliation, the second gunman also opened fire. He was, however, overpowered by the other two robbers.

The robbers then tried to force their way into the ATM booth and snatch the cash bags at gunpoint.

On noticing the commotion, two off-duty Delhi Police personnel reached there and were involved in a scuffle with the robbers.

They along with the locals managed to overpower a robber, but the two others managed to flee. Whenever they got stuck in traffic, they just reversed the motorcycle and took a different route,” another police officer said.

The arrested accused has been identified as 30-year-old Gurpreet Singh, a resident of Mahavir Nagar. A country-made pistol has been recovered from the spot.

“He was thrashed before being handed over to police,” the officer added.
A case under Indian Penal Code and Arms Act has been filed with Uttam Nagar police station. The charges under IPC are of sections 307 (attempt to murder), 394 (voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery) and 397 (dacoity with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt).