A cashier and a security guard of a toll plaza were shot dead in a suspected robbery bid in South-East Delhi’s Badarpur area.
Four motorbike-borne assailants opened fire at cashier Manmohan Singh Sharma (60) and guard Mahipal (50) at a staff quarter near the toll collection centre in Badarpur around 7:40am. The victims were taken to a hospital, where they succumbed to injuries, police said.
Preliminary investigation indicates that it was a case of robbery gone wrong, police said. The two employees were custodians of around Rs 2.5-crore cash collected at the toll plaza over a period, police added. After shooting at the duo, the robbers allegedly fled with the bag, assuming that it contained cash, but it turned out to be stuffed with documents.
According to the police, the four men on two motorbikes parked their vehicles outside the complex, where the victims lived. The managed to gain entry to the ground floor, where the toll plaza staff has made an office.
“Soon after entering the office, the assailants asked Manmohan and Mahipal to hand over the cash, to which they refused. The four, then, hit the duo with pistol butts. When Mahipal tried to reach for a baton, two of the assistants opened fire at him. One of the bullets hit his rib and another pierced his chest,” a senior police official said.
He added that after killing Mahipal, they shot at Manmohan. One of the robbers picked the bag, suspecting that it contained cash, and fled away, police said.
According to the police, two bags were kept in the locker, of which the robbers decamped with one. The police learnt that the cash bag was intact in the locker and the robbers had accidentally decamped with the wrong bag.
An eye-witness, who turned out to be the wife of a police inspector, saw two robbers running with the bag. She also heard the gunshots and raised an alarm. She told the police that the accused were known to her and have been identified as Pardeep and Vishal. The third accused has been identified by the police as Sahil, while the identity of the fourth accused is yet to be ascertained, police said.
“Four teams have been formed to nab the accused. Raids are being conducted to apprehend them. Meanwhile, a case of murder and robbery has been registered,” said Mandeep Singh Randhawa, DCP (South-east).
During the probe, the police learnt that two of the accused, posed as students and were preparing for Delhi Police entrance exams. They had allegedly taken a room on rent near the complex, where the victims were living.
They are missing after the incident, police said.
Officials at the toll booth said the company had rented the four-room office at the Tajpur Road, around 500 metres from the plaza, a month ago.
On Saturday night, the collection agents had collected Rs 63 lakh and deposited the money with Mahipal that was supposed to be transferred to the head office on Sunday.