Bikers shoot at petrol pump employees, flee with ₹25 lakh in Ghaziabad

Three men on motorcycles opened fire at four employees of a petrol pump in Govindpuram, Ghaziabad, and fled with ₹25 lakh in cash around 1.15pm on Monday, police said, adding they found footage of the masked perpetrators from CCTV cameras in the area and formed several teams to trace them.

According to the victims, the incident took place barely two kilometres away from the petrol pump in Adhyatmik Nagar near Dasna. They said they were on their way to a bank in Govindpuram to deposit ₹25 lakh when three masked men on two motorcycles cornered them.

“Both their motorcycles blocked mine. One of the men tried to snatch the bag with cash, but I did not let go. after a short scuffle, one of the men fired at my hand but missed. The handle of the bag, however, broke, and they fled with the money. The others also fired at my colleagues, but missed,” said Pappu Kumar, the manager of the petrol pump.

He said he was riding a motorcycle while a colleague was seated pillion. Two more colleagues were riding another motorcycle.

“Generally, we go to deposit cash between 12pm and 3pm. But the perpetrators looked like they had specific information that the bag was with me,” Kumar added.

The police said some portions of the incident were also captured by CCTV cameras installed in nearby houses.

“It seems that the perpetrators had specific inputs about the cash and movement of the employees. We have pulled footage from CCTV cameras installed in nearby houses and our teams are scanning it in order to trace the suspects,” said Iraj Raja, superintendent of police (rural).

“The men also fired their guns but no one was injured during the incident. We have formed several teams and are also taking the help of local informers to get clues,” he added.