NEW DELHI: Armed criminals looted a cash van and shot its guard dead in north Delhi’s Wazirabad area on Tuesday evening. The guard, Vijaypal (55), was hit in the chest and the bullet apparently punctured his heart. The robbers managed to flee from the spot with Rs 10.78 lakh without facing any resistance. The police have launched a manhunt to track them down.Initial investigations indicate that two criminals were involved, and they may have snatched a bike before the incident. The role of an insider, including an employee of the cash replenishment company, is suspected. Over a dozen teams have been given the task of cracking the case. ‘Cash van loot accused had pistol on both sides of waist’ Several units from the Delhi Police special cell and crime branch have been roped in to track down the criminals who looted a cash van and shot its guard dead here on Tuesday.A PCR call was received around 5pm about a firing incident involving a cash van and the police soon reached the spot in Wazirabad. The incident had taken place around 4.50pm.”A cash van had arrived at an ICICI ATM near Jagatpur flyover. All of a sudden, the guard was shot and the robbers took away the cash,” said a senior police officer. Eyewitnesses said they saw at least one of the robbers firing. The cash van had two custodians, a driver and the guard, a cop later said, adding a pistol was used to shoot the guard.The deceased guard is survived by his wife and four daughters who live in his village in Agra. Two of the daughters are married while two of them are studying.Property dealer Abhinandan Kushwaha, who was at his office near the spot, said he heard a commotion and came out to see four young men lifting the guard who was bleeding profusely. “People in the lane were running around. The youths then put him on a bike and rushed him to the hospital,” Kushwaha said. The guard was declared dead on arrival. “The police post is located just 500 metres away but the attackers managed to flee easily. The cops arrived at the spot after 20 minutes,”Kushwaha said.The man who fired, according to people on the spot, had a pistol on both sides of his waist. The police are verifying their statements.The guard’s body has been preserved at the mortuary and his family members have been informed, police said. An autopsy will be conducted on Wednesday morning and the body handed over to the family, the official added.The police have registered an FIR under sections related to murder during violent robbery and have begun an investigation. The special staff and other units of the north district have been asked to probe different aspects.The cops have collected footages from CCTV cameras in the area. The police are also trying to check the whereabouts of criminals who have recently come out on bail. A few UP and Haryana-based trigger-happy criminals are on their radar after it emerged that the guard was shot without any provocation or resistance.A similar incident had happened in north Delhi in 2014 when a UP-based criminal, Muneer, had shot dead a guard at an ATM in Kamla Nagar. While Muneer died last year, his aide, Ashutosh Mishra, was last known to be in jail and cops are verifying if he is out on bail. Some criminals from Bahadurgarh area are under the scanner as well, said an official.Incidents of murder during cash van heists had become rare in the capital with police cracking down on the gangs involved in such incidents till a few years ago. The last such incident was reported in 2018. Though a few incidents have taken place after that, the criminals have desisted from killing the guard.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/rs-11-lakh-looted-from-cash-van-guard-shot-dead-in-delhis-wazirabad/articleshow/96894890.cms