Journalist allegedly robbed at gunpoint by 5 in Noida

The accused took around ₹5,000 cash that he was carrying in his wallet and tried to choke him, Agrawal said in a Facebook post.

A journalist was allegedly robbed at gunpoint by five unidentified men in Greater Noida, the police said on Tuesday. The incident took place with editor-in-chief of Hindi Khabar, Atul Agrawal, on the intervening night of June 19 and 20, they added.

In his Facebook post, Agrawal said that the incident took place barely 250-300 metres from a police post in Greater Noida (West), also called Noida Extension. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The accused took around ₹5,000 cash that he was carrying in his wallet and tried to choke him, Agrawal said in a Facebook post.

Police said that they have not received a complaint from Agrawal regarding the incident but have launched an investigation into the matter after taking suo moto cognizance of his social media post.

In his Facebook post, Agrawal said that the incident took place barely 250-300 metres from a police post in Greater Noida (West), also called Noida Extension.

"The music system in my car had some issues so I had to stop my car to adjust the USB pen drive. Suddenly, five young men on two motorcycles came there and waylaid my car," he added.

"The car was locked from the inside. They started banging the windows but I resisted. Then one of them pulled out a gun and pointed it at me, forcing me to come out of the car. I had no other choice so I followed their instructions as they held me at gunpoint," he said in his Facebook post.

Agrawal said he pleaded with the assailants, all of whom were wearing face masks, to spare his life as he has a young son and told them they could take his car and whatever money he was carrying.

He further said that the assailants took around ₹5,000 cash that he was carrying in his wallet but left behind his mobile phone and gold jewellery after finding out that he is a journalist.

At one point, Agrawal claimed, one of the accused attempted to choke him but was stopped by one of his associates.

"We took suo motu cognisance of the incident after it came to light on social media. We have formed police teams to investigate the matter and track down the assailants," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central Noida) Harish Chander told news agency PTI.

"However, there has been no cooperation from the journalist with the local police. He has not given any formal complaint so no FIR has been lodged till now," he added.