Three ‘victims’ among 5 held for planning ₹19 lakh robbery in Vasundhara

Ghaziabad Police said the three ‘victims’ had planned the robbery a week ago. They broke down and admitted to the crime during questioning.

The Ghaziabad police, investigating an alleged robbery of Rs19 lakh in Vasundhara on Tuesday afternoon, cracked the case within four hours and arrested all the men involved. The police said they also recovered the robbed cash from the house of one of the three ‘victims’.

Senior police officers investigating the scene of the alleged crime in Vasundhara on Tuesday afternoon. (HT Photo)

Around 3pm on Tuesday, three employees of a contractor’s firm at Indirapuram had withdrawn Rs19 lakh from Punjab National Bank’s Vasundhara branch in Sector 13. They claimed to have been cornered by four armed bikers on two motorcycles, who snatched the bag of cash away at gunpoint.

Contractor Hitesh Kumar said that Waseem Siddiqui, Amit Katiyar and Vishal Agnihotri were beaten by the four bikers.

“We questioned the three victims in detail. They broke down and told us that the plan was hatched by Waseem, who had asked his brother and cousin to execute the robbery. The three men had planned the robbery a week ago,” Vaibhav Krishna, senior superintendent of police, said.

He said based on information by the three ‘victims’, the police also recovered the entire ₹19 lakh from Waseem’s house in Shaheed Nagar locality.

“The actual robbery was executed by only two on a motorcycle — Waseem’s brother and cousin. The three men had planned to take ₹6 lakh each. We have arrested all the men involved — the three ‘victims’ as well as the two bikers,” SSP Krishna said.

A breakthrough was made around 7pm, after which police teams picked up one of the bikers.

According to the initial complaint filed by Kumar, who owns a firm in Shakti Khand area of Indirapuram, “The three men had gone to withdraw money and were returning to the office in Indirapuram. A motorcycle hit the car and the two riders asked the men in the car to stop. As soon as driver, Amit Katiyar, rolled his window down, one of the bikers repeatedly hit him with his helmet.”

The complaint stated that within a few seconds, two more men arrived on another motorcycle.

“One of the robbers on the second motorcycle attacked the passenger on the front seat, Waseem Siddiqui, with a paper cutter. The second man pointed a pistol at Vishal Agnihotri who was holding the bag containing ₹19 lakh on the rear seat. The entire incident took place within two or three minutes and the four men fled with the bag,” the complaint stated.

However, senior police officials who inspected the scene of crime on Tuesday afternoon had said that prima facie, the incident seemed suspicious.

“The five men have been booked for robbery and criminal conspiracy,” the SSP added.