The Hindu : New Delhi News : Three held for Rs. 44-lakh robbery

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Saturday, Dec 18, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Three held for Rs. 44-lakh robbery

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, DEC. 17. Three persons have been arrested by the North-West Delhi police for allegedly robbing the employees of a private firm at Model Town in North-West Delhi of Rs. 44 lakhs on December 13. According to the police, one of the employees had hatched the conspiracy.

According to the police, Shailender Kathuria (42), Ram Sharma (24) and Sushil Dahiya (21), all employees of Amitabh Enterprises, had withdrawn Rs. 44.1 lakhs from the Model Town Branch of the Indian Overseas Bank around 3 p.m. They were on their way to the branch office of the firm in Model Town when two persons, posing as police officers on special checking duty, intercepted them near Chhatrasal Stadium in Model Town. One of them got into the front seat and the other took the rear seat. They then whipped out country-made revolvers and forced Shailender out of the car near Derawal Nagar and Ram Sharma after going some distance. They then forced Sushil to take the car to Bhajanpura from where they escaped, along with the cash, in a Maruti van which did not have a registration number plate.

However, when the police questioned the victims, they found contradictions in the statement of the victims. This led them to suspect that an insider was involved in the incident. They also noticed that Sushil went missing after lodging the case report. The police managed to trace Sushil on Thursday. He was interrogated at length following which he allegedly confessed to having hatched the conspiracy for committing the robbery.

At his instance, the police raided the residence of the other two accused, Babuddin and Asif. Babuddin tried to escape from the police by jumping from the first floor but sustained fracture in both his legs. The police also recovered Rs. 32 lakhs in cash from the residences of the accused.

Sushil told the police that he and Asif, his childhood friend, had hatched the conspiracy. Sushil, son of a private security agency owner, had got a job in Amitabh Enterprises a few months ago at a salary of Rs. 5,000 a month. He was entrusted with the task of withdrawing heavy cash from the bank. Over a period of time, he hit upon the idea of committing a robbery. When he told Asif -- who had a case of causing injury registered against him -- about his plans, Asif roped in Babuddin. Babuddin was into bodybuilding and Asif knew him as he too went to the same gymnasium.

Initially, Babuddin and Asif were wary of repercussions of committing a robbery. But, Sushil assured them that they would be beyond the reach of police after committing robbery. Asif and Babuddin had also tried to acquire passports so that they could flee out of the country after committing the crime.

On the fateful day, as per plan, Asif and Babuddin intercepted the car which Sushil was driving. After dropping Shailender and Ram, the trio reached Jahangirpuri house of Babuddin and distributed the booty. Sushil then took the car to Bhajanpura from where he called up his father to say that he had been robbed. There was no getaway vehicle, the police said. Sushil took his share of the booty the next day.

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