In a brazen incident, two masked robbers shot dead three guards and escaped with a cash box containing Rs 50 lakh from a private bank's ATM in the crowded Babuganj area near the Lucknow University, that too at noon, on Friday.
In a brazen incident, two masked robbers shot dead three guards and escaped with a cash box containing Rs 50 lakh from a private bank's ATM in the crowded Babuganj area near the Lucknow University, that too at noon, on Friday.
The shocking incident has virtually put the entire state law and order enforcement machinery in the dock besides creating a fear psychosis in the minds of the common people in the state capital.
The loot and murder episode becomes even more stark in view of the fact that the entire top brass of the state police was in town on Friday, just about four km away from the scene of crime. Ironically, UP DGP AK Jain was discussing steps to improve the law and order situation with top officials at the opening session of the IPS Week at the time of the incident.
UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav has taken a stern view of the incident and directed the DGP to personally monitor the case and ensure that it is worked out within a fortnight. He also announced an ex-gratia relief of Rs 5 lakh for each of the guards killed.
Giving details of the incident, the ATM guard Ashok Sharma, the only available witness, told the police that the entire operation took less than a minute. "The guards of the private security agency which brought the cash had asked me to stay at a distance from the ATM. Two of them entered the ATM while one stood outside near the security company's van," he said.
"Two men arrived on a bike and straightaway headed into the ATM. They shot both the guards inside at point blank range and took the cash box. As they came outside, the guard at the van tried to block their way. They shot him, too, and decamped," he said.
"The incident doesn't seem to be the handiwork of any organized gang," Lucknow SSP Yashasvi Yadav told dna. "The job has been executed by two people." Yadav said the criminals had conducted recce of the ATM over the past two days, the footage of which had also been recorded in the CCTV camera of a nearby shop.
He said as many as 16 police teams, including one with expertise in surveillance, have been pressed into the operation. We have CCTV footage of the entire episode, and we will get them very soon," he asserted.
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