Another cash van heist, Rs 15 lakh robbed

NEW DELHI: Robbers held up a cash van in central Delhi on Thursday noon and escaped with Rs 15 lakh even after crashing their getaway car on Pusa Road. This is the second cash van robbery in the city within 10 days—a gang looted Rs 90 lakh in Dilshad Garden on October 28—and also the second in central Delhi within six weeks. On September 25, the driver of a cash van had driven away with Rs 49 lakh in the Karol Bagh area.
Police said a stolen white Honda City car overtook the cash van belonging to CMS, a cash replenishment company, in Prasad Nagar and blocked its way. At the same time, two men wearing helmets and riding a black Bajaj Discover motorcycle drew up and demanded the key to the van’s rear compartment at gunpoint. Four other men stepped out of the car without covering their faces, and one of them aimed his gun at the head of the van’s gunman, Jaipal Singh, who was sitting in the front seat beside the driver.
The cash box was open as the two custodians, Prem and Jai Kumar, were transferring the last collection from a bag into it. The van driver claimed that when the robbers were busy gathering the cash from the box, he hit the hand of the one standing by his window and made him drop his gun. The gang fled leaving only Rs 50,000 in the box. The guard claimed he shot at their car but missed.
The robbers hit a Volkswagen Polo as they took a right turn from Sat Nagar Road in front of B L Kapoor Hospital on Pusa Road. Their car stalled but they melted away in the crowd on foot.
Police have seized the country-made gun dropped by the robbers and also their car and bike. However, they have not found any CCTV footage. “We have registered a case of robbery and are probing the case. We expect a breakthrough soon,” said Alok Kumar, DCP, central district.