Murder of ATM guard: ‘He complained to manager about risk, asked for 2nd guard’

Family and colleagues of the deceased man, Udaypal Singh, said he had complained to his managers on Tuesday about the risk of sending him alone with a van full of cash.

The 51-year-old security guard of a cash van who was murdered in north Delhi’s Wazirabad on Tuesday evening by an assailant, who absconded with ₹10.78 lakh in cash, had complained to his managers about the risk of sending him alone with the van and asked them to send another armed guard with him.

Besides Udaypal Singh, only the driver, cash custodian and a loader were present inside the van, police officers said. (REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE)

Family and colleagues of the deceased man, Udaypal Singh, said he had complained to his managers on Tuesday about the risk of sending him alone with a van full of cash.

At 4.50pm on Tuesday, a cash van arrived at an ICICI Bank ATM near the Jagatpur flyover for refilling cash. One man fired at Singh and escaped with the cash inside the ATM booth.

Besides Singh, only the driver, cash custodian and a loader were present inside the van, police officers said.

Singh, who was from Ferozabad in Uttar Pradesh and a resident of Kartar Nagar in Delhi, was rushed to hospital where he was declared brought dead.

Singh’s colleague Surinder Singh (43), said that according to protocol, two security guards have to go in a cash van to fill cash in ATMs, but the company insists only one will go.

“On Tuesday, Singh told the manager that it’s risky carrying cash and another armed security officer should accompany him. However, the manager told Singh he should do as told or go home. We are all sent alone on routes, and we have raised this concern, but our managers threaten to relieve us from our job. And no one can afford that,” Surinder said.

Another colleague, Indraveer Singh (52), said security guards have no assurance that the company will back them if they fire in self-defence. “We are given a gun but it’s only for show. The company doesn’t give us anything in writing that we are allowed to fire if the situation requires. If we fire, we can be imprisoned and we have to take care of all legal proceedings ourselves,” he said.

Another colleague, who did not want to be identified, said if they get injured in the line of duty, “there is no guarantee that our hospital bills will be taken care of, and we are at the mercy of the company”.

The deceased man’s brother-in-law, Abhay Pratap (38), said Singh joined the company in August last year. Before this, he was working as guard at a bank in Laxmi Nagar. He is survived by two sons, aged 12 and 20, and the latter is battling a chronic disease. “No one from the company has offered any help. Singh’s wife doesn’t work, and the elder son can’t work,” he added.

In CCTV footage of the incident at 4.35pm, a man wearing a grey sweatshirt is running, carrying a bag filled with cash. In another footage, he is walking towards the cash van while holding a phone to his ear. Police said the suspect has been identified and efforts are underway to catch him.