Three bike-borne assailants reportedly shot dead the guard and cashier of a wine shop in New Delhi on Thursday, April 26, and fled with about Rs 12 lakh cash.
The incident took place in west Delhi's Narela area around 2.30 pm when the wine shop's cashier Rajnikant and guard Prem Kumar were shifting the cash box into an SIS company's van.
"When Rajnikant was handing over the cash box containing Rs 12 lakh to Prem Kumar for keeping it in the van, three bike-borne criminals came close to them and two of them started firing at them indiscriminately," Deputy Commissioner of Police Rajneesh Gupta was quoted as saying by IANS.
"They escaped with the cash box after Rajnikant and Kumar collapsed on the ground."
The incident caused a lot of commotion due to which the shopkeepers in the area came out of their shops. Seeing that Rajnikant and Kumar had collapsed, they called the police and the duo was taken to nearby Raja Harishchandra Hospital. They were declared brought dead.
"Prima facie, it appears to be a case of planned robbery, as the attackers knew the time of cash van's arrival there," Gupta added.
The matter is now being investigated and the police are said to be examining the CCTV footage of the area. They are also trying to trace the motorbike that the assailants came on and raids are also being conducted. The police believe that an insider could have helped the assailants and a Haryana-based gang could be involved, reported DNA.
"Considering the knowledge of the criminals, there may be some insider involved in giving the information. In order to ensure a speedy probe, Delhi Police Crime Branch and Special Cell have also been associated with the case," DNA quoted Gupta as saying.
The cash van's driver is also being questioned.
