Lucknow: Woman looted inside ATM booth; retired APO 500m away

Two incidents of loot within 50 minutes in PGI and the adjoining Aashiana police station areas of Lucknow created sensation in the areas and sent cops into a tizzy.

Two incidents of loot within 50 minutes in PGI and the adjoining Aashiana police station areas created sensation in the areas and sent cops into a tizzy.

The incidents took place at a distance of 500 metres from each other.(Representational Image)

Both the incidents took place at a distance of 500 metres from each other.

Highlights

Incidentally, when Soni was looted, Patel had just come out of the bank. When he came to know about the loot, he advised Soni to lodge a police complaint

Patel, however, had no inkling that within the next 50 minutes he, too, would become a victim of loot.

In the first case one Soni Gautam was looted of Rs 25,000 inside an SBI ATM booth on Telibagh-Ring Road, near the bank’s Support Ganj branch, in Aashiana police circle area.

After around 50 minutes, miscreants looted Rs 1.05 lakh from a retired assistant prosecuting officer (APO) Nand Lal Patel.

At around 11.30 am Soni, along with her brother Rinku, had gone to withdraw money from the ATM. While she went inside to withdraw cash, her brother stood outside.

When Soni went inside the ATM booth, another youth followed her. The moment Soni withdrew the money, the youth snatched the cash and fled from the scene. The ATM guard and Rinku were clueless about the incident inside the booth and watched the miscreant flee in amazement.

It was only when Soni came out of the booth crying that the guard and Rinku came to know about the incident.

In the other incident in PGI police station area at around 12.20 pm, Nand Lal Patel withdrew Rs 1.05 lakh from SBI’s Ring Road Support Ganj branch, the same bank at whose ATM booth Soni was looted.

Around 500 metres from the bank, as Patel got down from his car to make some purchases, two miscreants on a motorcycle snatched his bag with the cash. When Patel tried to resist, the miscreants pointed a gun at him and fled.

After getting information, superintendent of police (north) Anurag Vats and circle officer, Cantonment Tanu Upadhyay reached the spot along with other cops and began investigation.