Rs 1.6 crore robbed from cash van in Kushinagar

GORAKHPUR/LUCKNOW: Five miscreants intercepted a cash van and opened fire before fleeing with Rs 1.6 crore cash in broad daylight in

Kushinagar

on Monday.


But police suspect the loot claim as there was no witness to corroborate the claims made by the van driver and his aide. Police said it could be the handiwork of an insider as the van was without a security guard. The driver and the helper of cash van were being questioned.

According to police, around 2pm, a cash van carrying Rs 1.6 crore, was going from Sahjanwa in Gorakhpur to deposit cash in Punjab National Bank's Harpur Barwan branch. It had collected cash from a petrol pump and was moving via Kaptanganj. The van was being driven by Pradeep Yadav who only had an unarmed aide Tej Pratap Singh.

When the van reached Jhanga Bazaar on Kaptanganj road under Hata police station, two miscreants on a bike and an SUV, both coming from behind, intercepted it, bring the van to a screeching halt.

"Before Yadav could understand anything, four men came out of the Bolero and two on the bike opened firing. The van driver and his aide panicked among heavy firing and ran away leaving the cash van," said a senior police officer. The miscreants decamped with the cash.

"Rs 1.6 crore were looted from a van. An FIR has been lodged against unidentified personson the complaint of Tej Pratap Singh," said SHO, Hata police station, Gajendra Rai.

IG Gorakhpur range J N Singh told TOI that prima facie the incident appears suspicious because it took place in a dense locality and no resident heard any gunshots. Moreover, the van was without an armed guard which is against rules.

"We trying to get CCTV footage near the incident site," said Singh.