Armed snatchers target petrol pump owner, flee with Rs 29 lakh cash

NEW DELHI: A petrol pump owner was robbed of his cash bag containing approximately Rs 29 lakh outside a bank near Rohini on Monday afternoon. He had just stepped out of his Mercedes car to deposit the cash in a bank when at least four men armed with pistols surrounded him.

Additional DCP (outer) Rajender Sagar said a case has been registered after Anil Sharma’s complaint.
The incident happened on Kanjhawala Road near Rohini Sector-23 on Monday afternoon at 12.30pm when Sharma drove to a nearby bank to deposit the month’s cash collection.
Sharma told cops that he had just stepped out of the car when a man in his 20s came and grabbed his shoulder. As he turned around to look, the accused, along with two of his associates, stopped him and held him at gunpoint.
“One of them tried to snatch the bag from the owner but when he resisted, another associate pulled the gun’s trigger. However, shots were not fired despite multiple efforts,” said an officer, adding that it is suspected that either the gun got jammed or the robbers wanted to scare the fuel station owner with an empty gun.
Either way, the trick worked as Sharma let go of the cash bag, allowing the robbers to flee with it. After running in the crowded market for 30 metres, the men drove away on their motorcycles. Altogether six men were found to be involved in the heist.
After losing the bag, Sharma went back to his Mercedes and tried to chase the motorcycles, but had to give up after half a kilometre due to heavy traffic on Kanjhawala Road. He made a PCR call and informed the police about the incident, after which a case was registered.
CCTV footage of the incident, accessed by TOI, showed a man in a yellow shirt waiting outside the bank before Sharma came in his car. The footage shows the man standing with two other associates and is then seen running on the road after snatching the bag. The footage is being checked to ascertain the identity of all the accused.
Investigating teams are going through a list of current and former employees of the fuel station owner to ascertain their involvement in the robbery and have detained some suspects for questioning.