New Delhi, June 20: Four days after an employee of a petrol pump in Bhajanpura was robbed and murdered, the South Delhi police have arrested four people they claim were the assailants.
On June 15, petrol pump employee Baldev Singh was killed and Rs 8.5 lakh in cash robbed from him when he was on his way to deposit the money in a bank, just across the road from the pump.
The police said Rs 5 lakh, four pistols of .315-bore caliber, eight rounds of ammunition and two motorcycles used in the crime, were recovered from the accused. The men have been identified as Rakesh Kumar (29), Harish Gupta (28), Vinay Bhargava (31) and Basant Kumar (37).
Police officers said they were plotting another petrol pump robbery in the Karbala area of Lodhi Colony when they were arrested. A fresh FIR has been lodged with the Lodhi Colony police station in connection with the incident.
During interrogation, the men confessed to committing the Bhajanpura robbery-cum-murder. They said that Rakesh, the gang’s kingpin, had an account with the Syndicate Bank — opposite the petrol pump —where the pump’s earnings were deposited every Monday. He was aware of the Monday transfers and had briefed his accomplices accordingly. The gang carried out a recce two days before they struck.
“Rakesh, Harish, Vinay and Basant assembled in the morning. They carried pistols of .315 bore and .32 bore. Basant, who drove the red Pulsar bike, was carrying a .32 bore pistol which he fired in the air to scare the employees,” a police officer said.
Rakesh shot at Baldev Singh with a .315 bore pistol, fatally injuring him in the chest. The bag of cash, which fell on the road, was picked up by Harish, he added. “They later gathered at a factory and shared the booty. The red bag containing the cash was disposed of in a nearby nullah. They also destroyed the slip with the details of the denominations of notes,” the officer said.
During investigations, it emerged that Basant Kumar has a long crime dossier to his name. He was involved in a double murder in Khurja area in 1998, the police said. He had been jailed for the murders for several years. After his release, he shifted to Brahmpuri in Delhi.
The police also said Vinay Bhargava is a trained dance teacher who was enticed by his friends to earn a fast buck. Harish Gupta, on the other hand, owns a sewing machine factory and runs a garment business from Gandhi Nagar Market. Rakesh is a driver who took to crime to pay off his debts, the police said.
—–Agencies