Robbers attack gold loan company, flee with jewellery, cash

A gang of four armed assailants barged into a finance company's branch in northwest Delhi on Friday afternoon, stabbed a security guard and held its staff hostage before escaping with the booty — gold jewellery valued between Rs. 35 and Rs. 50 lakh.

A gang of four armed assailants barged into a finance company's branch in northwest Delhi on Friday afternoon, stabbed a security guard and held its staff hostage before escaping with the booty — gold jewellery valued between Rs. 35 and Rs. 50 lakh.

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The incident was reported from a Muthoot Finance office, located a stone's throw away from Rohini South Police Station and nestled on the first floor of the Unity Aggarwal E-Mall, a bustling commercial complex in Rohini's sector seven, around 12pm.

"Prima facie investigation has revealed that one of the men had gained access by posing as a customer. After his entry, three masked men appeared and one of them forced himself inside," said a senior police officer.

"Two others, who had remained outside, stabbed and successfully overpowered the security guard, Rajiv Mishra, who had fired two shots in the air in an attempt to scare them," said a senior police officer.

Once inside, police said, one of the men slapped a woman employee, who was apparently the cashier and one of the four employees present at the branch at the time, and made his way to the strong-room after snatching the keys to it.

His other associate held the three other employees at gunpoint to 'dissuade' them from calling the police or create an alarm to attract attention.

"After ransacking the strong-room for two to three minutes, the men stormed out of the office carrying Rs. 1.30 lakh in cash and jewellery worth several lakhs with them," the officer said.

"Seconds later, Mishra claims, three of the men jumped onto a single motorcycle and fled while the other man just 'disappeared'. Mishra fired two more shots at the assailants' motorcycle but missed both times."

A resident of Uttar Pradesh, Mishra was found to have been stabbed twice — in the neck and below the torso. He was rushed to Ambedkar Hospital, where his condition is stated to be stable.

Police said they had requested that CCTV footage from the office be made available to them but the lone camera installed inside the premises was found to be non-functional.

"The employees said usually there are five employees at the branch. However, one of them, who is a senior company representative, was absent at the time of the robbery. We are investigating the case from all angles," the officer added.