Godown looted of cigarette packets worth ₹25 lakh
THE SECURITY GUARD OF THE WAREHOUSE WAS HELD HOSTAGE BY THE SUSPECTS, WHO STABBED HIM IN THE NECK
GREATER NOIDA: A cigarette distributor’s warehouse in Site IV was looted of cigarette packets worth ₹25 lakh on Wednesday night.
According to the police, the security guard of the warehouse was held hostage by the five suspects, who also stabbed him in the neck.
The warehouse owner said he suspects the involvement of former employees in the incident.
The office-cum-warehouse is owned by Rakesh Jain. He is also the distributor of a leading cigarette brand in Greater Noida. According to the police complaint he filed, the five suspects entered the premises after jumping the boundary wall, around 2am.
“They held the security guard, Sunil Rai, 33, and tied his hands and legs with a rope. The suspects then broke the door and stole cigarette packets worth ₹25 lakh. They also damaged the
CCTV camera and took away the DVR. While leaving the premise, the suspects also attacked Rai in the neck with a sharp knife and left him critically wounded,” he said.
The security guard later raised a rescue call and a guard from a neighbouring mall visited him, after which the police and the owner were informed.
Jain said he rushed to the spot after getting information.
“The suspects had loaded the cigarette packets on a mini truck which was parked in our office and fled. We admitted the guard to a private hospital in Greater Noida. On the way, Rai said that one of the five suspects was Monu’s brother, a resident of
Ghodi Bacheda village,” he alleged, adding that Monu was a former employee who worked at the office three years ago.
Rajesh Kumar Singh, deputy commissioner of police, Greater Noida, said the police have registered a case against five persons under Section 397 and Section 342.
“We suspect the involvement of some former employees in this case. We will solve the case soon,” he said.
In his police complaint, Jain further alleged that on December 4, 2020 a person named Vishnu Thakur from Ghodi Bacheda village had visited him and demanded money.
“He said that he was aware of my business and dealings and that I should pay him a fixed amount on a monthly basis,” he said. Jain alleged that Thakur said that he had received his business-related information from Keshav, Narendra and Rajiv, former employees at Jain’s office.
Police said they are investigating the matter from all angles.
NOIDA: Noida and adjoining areas had a warm Thursday. The region’s average maximum temperature was eight degrees Celsius (°C) higher than the season’s average.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that the maximum and minimum temperatures for Noida on Thursday were 32.2 °C and 15.6 °C, respectively, against 32.0 °C and 13.7 °C a day earlier.
The Safdarjung observatory in Delhi, also considered representative of the national Capital region (NCR) recorded the maximum temperature at 33.2°C, eight notches higher than season average, while the minimum was 13.4 °C, one degree higher than normal.
“Currently, winds in the region have southerly components, and the wind directions are south-easterly or southwesterly, coming from Rajasthan. Both the south-easterly and south-westerly winds are dry and hot. Apart from that, the region also saw clear sky and more hours of sunshine, which further contributed to the rise in the temperature of the region,” said Mahesh Palawat,
vice president, meteorology and climate change, Skymet.
Meanwhile, the air quality of Ghaziabad and Greater Noida saw an improvement, but Noida’s air quality index (AQI) saw no change at all.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the AQI of Noida on Thursday, on a scale of 0 to 500, was 292 – same as a day earlier on Wednesday.
Noida’s air quality had last improved to the “poor” category on February 2.
The AQI of Greater Noida on Wednesday improved to 303 against 353 a day earlier. The air quality index of Ghaziabad was 346 – the second most polluted city in the country – against 388 a day earlier.
An AQI up to 100 is considered ”good”, between 101 and 200 is considered ”moderate”, between 201 and 300 is ”poor”, between 301 and 400 is considered “very poor” and above 400 is considered ”severe”.
According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), the air quality is likely to marginally improve over the next two days.
“Surface winds are presently low but will pick up and are forecasted to remain moderately high for the next two days. AQI is forecasted to marginally improve Friday and likely to stay at the lower end of the ”very poor” to ”poor”. The larger gradient is likely in AQI in different parts of Delhi as local emissions are largely controlling the particulate matter mass concentrations. A further increase in wind speed and boundary layer height is forecasted for Saturday with slight increase in temperature. This is likely to influence the AQI positively and AQI is forecasted to fall well within the ”poor” category on Saturday and Sunday,” the SAFAR said on Thursday.
The wind blowing in the region is hot and a clear sky means more hours of sun thereby, raising the temperature. MAHESH PALAWAT,
Skymet