Noida: Three snatch ₹12 lakh from collection agent, SHO suspended

A 30-year-old collection agent working for a Delhi businessman was allegedly robbed of ₹12 lakh by three armed men in Noida’s Sector 104 on Thursday afternoon

A 30-year-old collection agent working for a Delhi businessman was allegedly robbed of ₹12 lakh by three armed men in Noida’s Sector 104 on Thursday afternoon. Later, Sector 39 police station house officer Azad Singh Tomar was suspended for “dereliction of duty” in connection with the case.

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According to police, Sukhveer, a native of Haryana, has been working at the businessman’s store in Delhi’s Kondli for six years. His employer Praveen Garg is a wholesaler dealing in refined oil, they said.

Kumar Ranvijay Singh, additional deputy commissioner of police, Noida, said that Sukhveer came to Noida on a scooter to collect money from his employer’s clients. “He visited different shops/clients in Khoda, Mamura, Parthala and Bhangel and collected about ₹12 lakh cash. He was returning to Delhi when three criminals on a motorcycle overtook him and forced him to stop near Hajipur in Sector 104. The suspects snatched his bag containing the cash and mobile phone at gunpoint and fled the spot,” he said.

The victim informed police with the help of a passerby and a team from Sector 39 police station soon reached the spot. Singh said it appears that the suspects had conducted a recce of the collection agent before committing the crime. “We are investigating the matter from all angles,” he said.

Later, the news of the incident was widely shared on social networking sites. Police commissioner Singh said in the evening, “I have called for an administrative preliminary inquiry report. Action will be taken against the policemen for dereliction of duty based on the report.”

However, later in the night, the GB Nagar police commissioner said, “The Sector 39 SHO, Azad Singh Tomar, has been suspended for dereliction of duty in connection with the loot case.”

Rajesh S, DCP, Noida said that a case was registered against unknown persons under Section 392 (robbery) of IPC at Sector 39 police station. “We are scanning CCTV footage from nearby areas to arrest the suspects,” the DCP said.