Bank staff, 2 others held in Punjabi Bagh robbery case

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police on Tuesday solved the case where two employees of a rice trader were robbed of Rs 80 lakh at gunpoint by four men riding bikes in west

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police on Tuesday solved the case where two employees of a rice trader were robbed of Rs 80 lakh at gunpoint by four men riding bikes in west Delhi’s Punjabi Bagh four days ago.

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Ajit Singh, 24, who works with a leading private bank, and his two associates, Aashu Shrivastava, 30, and Mukesh Pal, 26, were arrested in connection with the robbery case. Around Rs 45 lakh out of the Rs 80 lakh robbed was recovered from them. Police said the arrested bank employee was the mastermind behind the crime. He used to assist the employees of the rice merchant in depositing money in his bank.

Deependra Pathak, joint commissioner of police (southwestern range), said Singh was in need of money and planned to rob the two employees. He lured his five associates and included them in the robbery plan after promising them an equal share in the stolen money.

On July 28, the two employees, Aman Gupta and Shubham, went to merchant Ved Prakash Gupta’s home in Punjabi Bagh to collect Rs 80 lakh .They kept the money in a black bag and rode a scooty to the bank on Asaf Ali Road. As they approached the Shakur Basti railway underpass, four men riding two motorcycles waylaid them, pointed pistols at the two and snatched the bag.

“Further probe pointed the needle of suspicion at Ajit Singh, the banker. He was taken into custody and grilled during which he broke down and confessed to the crime,” said an investigator.

Singh’s interrogation revealed that he leaked the information to Aashu that he would receive a payment of Rs 80 lakh.

“The phone call details of Singh and Aashu were obtained and analysed. It was established that the two had frequent telephonic conversations on the day of robbery,” the officer said.