Four suspects held for opening fire in snatching bid in Gurugram

Police said the victim had a narrow escape after three suspects on a motorcycle opened fire at him, in an attempt to loot the money, as soon as he came out of the market after cash collection

Gurugram police arrested four suspects on Sunday night, who allegedly tried to snatch ₹4.30 lakh from a cash collection agent on November 9 near Galleria market in DLF Phase 4, police said on Monday.

The suspects had targeted the collection agent hoping that his bag would contain ₹35-40 lakh. (Representative image)

Police said the victim had a narrow escape after three suspects on a motorcycle opened fire at him, in an attempt to loot the money, as soon as he came out of the market after cash collection.

According to police, Mahendra Singh Negi (34), collected cash from four shops in Galleria market and was on his way to another complex when the incident took place around 3pm. Three suspects on a motorcycle intercepted him and opened fire. But the bullets missed him and he left his motorcycle and sprinted for more than 150 metres with the bag containing cash to enter the Galleria market complex again. He ran inside a bakery shop to save his life, police said.

Preet Pal Sangwan, assistant commissioner of police (crime), said that police teams reached the spot and scanned CCTV footage. The suspects were seen fleeing after the botched robbery attempt. “We had recorded statements of the eyewitnesses and the employees working in the shops from where Negi had collected cash. Based on human intelligence and technical surveillance, the crime investigation unit of DLF Phase 4 police station identified the suspects and nabbed them from Sirhaul village in Sector 18,” he said.

The suspects were identified as Sudeep (27), Dhruv alias Pradeep (30), Vinay (28) and Anant (28).

ACP Sangwan said that during questioning, the suspects revealed that four of them belong to the same village and are close friends. “Sudeep and Dhruv are brothers and the former worked at a grocery store in Galleria market and hatched the plan as he had observed the victim collecting cash from several shops and shared the plan with his brother and two friends. He along with his brother went to Uttar Pradesh to buy two country-made pistols and live cartridges to execute their plan,” he said.

Police said Sudeep borrowed a motorcycle from his friend in Mathura, a day before committing the crime but since they were unsuccessful as the victim did not let them take away the bag. They were planning to commit another crime.

The suspects had targeted the collection agent hoping that his bag would contain ₹35-40 lakh.

Police said they are yet to recover the motorcycle and the arms used in the crime.

A case was registered against the suspects under Section 307 (attempt to murder), 398 (attempt to commit robbery or dacoity when armed with deadly weapon) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Arms Act at the DLF police station in Sector 29, police added.