Bikers loot ₹96L from cash van in Gurugram

GURUGRAM: Five men allegedly robbed ₹96.32 lakh at gunpoint from the van of a private cash collection company on Monday afternoon after throwing threw chilli powder in the eyes of two employees sitting in the vehicle, police said.

According to the police, the incident took place around 1.45pm when the two employees were waiting in an Eco van near Subhash Chowk on Sohna Road, while their colleague had gone to an automobile showroom nearby to collect cash. Police said the van had been collecting cash from several showrooms in the city and had come to Gurugram from Delhi. They also said that the driver’s side window and the rear windows were open. The van allegedly did not have a locker and no security guard was accompanying the employees.

Aman Yadav, assistant commissioner of police (Sadar), said, “We reached the spot within 20 minutes after receiving the information and found that five men had thrown chilli powder in the eyes of two people seated in the van, stolen a bag containing ₹96.32 lakh cash at gunpoint, and escaped in a black car. Another bag which contained a smaller amount of cash was not stolen. Several crime branch teams are working to identify the suspects.”

Yadav said an employee of the cash collection company, Akhilesh (identified by his first name), had gone to collect money from the showroom, while driver Ranjit and caretaker Vipin (also identified by their first names) were in the van parked outside the showroom on the service lane of Sohna Road when the incident took place. They had to deposit cash in a Sector 53 bank.

Ranjit said, “We had stopped near Subhash Chowk. Vipin, who was seated behind me, and I were waiting while our colleague had gone to collect cash from a car showroom. I was checking some documents on my phone when the four or five men surrounded the van. They threw chilli powder in our eyes. They held us at gunpoint and stole the bag containing about ₹1 crore in cash. We had collected cash earlier in the day from near Delhi airport and from Gurugram.”

Police said an FIR was registered against the as yet unidentified suspects under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and sections of Arms Act at Sadar police station on Monday.