The Hindu : Front Page : Delhi robbery bid claims one life

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Thursday, Jul 05, 2007
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Delhi robbery bid claims one life

Staff Reporter

Attempt to snatch bag containing 8.65 lakh foiled; accused overpowered

– PHOTO: PTI

CAUGHT: Mayur Vihar robbery bid accused Anil Kumar in police custody on Wednesday.

NEW DELHI: In a sensational robbery bid here in the Capital in broad daylight on Wednesday, a young man was shot allegedly by a retired Army man out to rob him of a bag containing Rs. 8.65 lakh in cash. The alleged assailant was, however, overpowered by two passers-by and beaten up by the crowd that soon gathered before being handed over to the police.

It all happened on the Delhi-Noida link road in the Mayur Vihar Phase I area around 3-30 p.m. when 26-year-old Santosh, an employee with a chartered accountancy firm, was on his way back to office at Laxmi Nagar in East Delhi in an auto-rickshaw after withdrawing cash from the Noida Sector 41 branch of Mahamedha Urban Cooperative Bank. He was approaching the Mayur Vihar crossing when a man on a motorcycle intercepted him and tried to snatch the bag containing the cash.

Santosh offered resistance and raised an alarm, at which the assailant whipped out a pistol and fired three rounds at him, inflicting bullet injuries in the head and chest. The victim collapsed on the road and the frightened auto-rickshaw driver vanished from the scene.

The alleged assailant was trying to flee when two passers-by on a motorcycle, Mohammad Meraj and his friend Mohammad Wahid, overpowered him. Soon a crowd gathered at the scene of crime and rained punches and kicks on the accused till he nearly lost consciousness.

Meanwhile, traffic on the road was disrupted because of the commotion. By the time the police arrived on the scene, Santosh had succumbed to his injuries.

During interrogation, the 35-year-old accused identified himself as Anil Kumar, resident of a village in Noida. A retired Army man, Anil purportedly told the police that he had gone to Mahamedha Urban Cooperative Bank to withdraw money when he noticed Santosh withdrawing a large amount of cash. It was then that he allegedly planned to rob Santosh.

He allegedly trailed Santosh on his motorcycle and on nearing the Mayur Vihar crossing near Samachar Apartments shot at the latter from close range. The police said Anil, who runs a public telephone booth, used his licensed pistol to shoot Santosh. According to the police, though Anil claimed that no other person was involved in the incident, the motorcycle used in the crime has disappeared from the scene, indicating that more than one person might be involved.

“The registration number that the accused initially provided is not correct. He has given two more numbers that are being verified. We are also verifying his statement regarding the sequence of events leading up to the incident,” said a senior police officer, adding that the names of Meraj and Wahid who caught the accused were being recommended for appropriate awards.

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