Six held for daylight robbery, ₹70.50 lakh recovered

Gurugram police arrested six men in the last four days, who allegedly robbed ₹97 lakh from the van of a private cash collection company on April 18 by keeping two employees travelling in the vehicle at gunpoint and throwing chilli powder into their eyes

Gurugram police arrested six men in the last four days, who allegedly robbed ₹97 lakh from the van of a private cash collection company on April 18 by keeping two employees travelling in the vehicle at gunpoint and throwing chilli powder into their eyes.

Gurugram, India - April 24, 2022: Police personnel present six men in alleged relation to the loot case of one crore rupees from a cash van at Subhash Chowk at Sohna road, in Gurugram, India, on Sunday, April 24, 2022. Police personnel also recovered 75.50 lakh rupees from the accused. (Photo by Parveen Kumar/Hindustan Times) (Parveen Kumar/Hindustan Times)

The robbery had sent shockwaves across the city and led police to cancel the licence of the cash collection firm for not following prescribed safety measures. Haryana director general of police (DGP) PK Aggarwal had announced a cash reward of ₹2 lakh for those who give credible information about the suspects involved in the loot case.

Police recovered ₹70.50 lakh, two cars, a revolver and four cartridges from the suspects. Police said three of the suspects, who went to Vaishno Devi (Katra) in Jammu to offer prayers after the heist, were arrested during their return journey from Shambhu toll plaza in Ambala on Saturday night.

Commissioner of Gurugram police Kala Ramachandran said seven people were involved in the robbery; one of the suspects is presently in Uttar Pradesh and is yet to be arrested. “One of the suspects worked in the cash collection company as a driver of the van for almost 20 days last year. He knew about all the routes the vehicle took and conducted a recce with his friends twice before the heist,” she said.

Police said the cash van was used to collect cash from Delhi International Airport’s T-3 and T-1 parking areas and then from a couple of showrooms in Gurugram before depositing it at a bank in Gurugram.

The suspects were identified as Kulbir, Neelkamal alias Kamal (28), Divankar Arora alias Mannu (28), Javed alias Bilori (28), residents of Chattarpur in Delhi, Gulab (29), resident of Palwal, Johny (34), resident of Faridabad while Jitender alias Jeetu, a native of Bihar, is on the run.

Ramachandran said the suspects planned to commit the robbery on a Monday. “The cash collection is higher on weekends and is deposited in the bank on Monday. The suspects followed the cash van from T-3 and committed the crime before the van could reach the bank. The van was at its last stop at Subhash Chowk on Sohna Road,” she said.

Police said the suspects had attempted the robbery twice earlier but failed as one of their gang members could not reach the spot on time.

Ramachandran said after analysing the CCTV footage of cameras installed outside the automobile showroom, where the van was parked at the time of the incident, police found an Alto car with a fake number plate nearby that was used to commit the crime. “We formed four teams and started looking at previous cases of looting of cash vans, former employees of the cash transportation company, and analysis of CCTV footage across Gurugram. The original registration number of the Alto was obtained and it was found that the vehicle was registered in Delhi.”

On the intervening night of Thursday and Friday, a team arrested Arora from Chhatarpur and recovered the car as well as the fake number plate. “He was produced in court on Friday and taken on police remand till April 28. On questioning, he revealed the names of the other four persons who were involved in the loot,” said the commissioner.

During investigation, police found Jeetu had left for UP while the other three had left for Vaishno Devi temple. Crime teams were sent to Katra in Jammu, one to Pathankot and the third one at Shambhu border in Ambala.

The team at Katra tracked the culprits to a hotel but the suspects had checked out minutes before the team arrived. They then alerted the teams at Shambhu and Pathankot. The teams also sought the assistance of superintendent of Ambala police at the Ambala toll. The three men were arrested on Saturday night at the Ambala toll plaza near Shambhu border, said police.

Ramachandran said following preliminary interrogation, raids were conducted in the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday and two more accomplices, Kulbir and Javed--were arrested from Chattarpur. While Javed was the former driver of the company, Kulbir runs a transport company in Chattarpur.

According to police, Javed, Kulbir and Nilkamal are childhood friends. Nilkamal had come in contact with Jeetu and Gulab in 2008 and 2009 while they all were lodged in Bhondsi jail. Nilkamal lived as a tenant in Diwankar’s house while Johny is Nilkamal’s cousin. These seven people hatched the robbery plan at Kulbir’s office.

Police said the suspects conducted a recce on April 7, made a robbery attempt on April 11 but were not successful as Jeetu had not turned up. They gave effect to their robbery plan on April 18, said police.