In a daylight robbery, four motorcycle-borne men on Monday snatched a bag containing Rs 18 lakh at gunpoint from two employees of a petrol pump at a busy market in Khandwa town of Madhya Pradesh.
The incident sent the police in a tizzy prompting a massive manhunt and crack down on criminals.
The robbery took place barely 200 meters from Naredi petrol pump when employees Mushtaq Khan and Sayeed Shah were carrying the money bag to a bank, inspector Dilip Puri told reporters.
Khan and Shah, who were moving on a scooter, were stopped by two riders moving on a red-coloured motorcycle. They picked up a fight over an accident they faked, the inspector said, adding before the victims could comprehend, two of their accomplices reached the spot on another black motorcycle.
One of the accused pointed a country-made pistol at the victims and snatched the bag containing money. They fled the spot, before the duo could react, Puri said.
The accused moved through Korgala Road towards the railway station, before mingling in traffic.
Mushtaq told reporters that the perpetrators were wearing monkey caps, so they could not recognize them.
The incident sent shock waves in the vicinity and the police were immediately informed. Senior officials rushed to the spot and issued instructions to cordon off the area.
“We are checking vehicles moving in and out of the area. We are hopeful that we will soon catch the culprits,” Puri said.
The accused were also caught on CCTV cameras making their escape. Police officials have collected the CCTV grabs and were sifting through them to ascertain the identity of the accused.
Investigators claimed that the accused seem to know the movement of petrol pump employees and were aware of the money bag they were carrying. Police were in the process of interrogating the petrol pump staff to gather clues on the accused.
