Ahmedabad, Nov 27: Two robbers, armed with an iron bar and a hammer, made off with 14. 2kg of gold bars after over powering the guard at a cash logistics firm near Mithakhali crossroads, early on Saturday morning. The robbed gold is valued at Rs 4 crore.
Sources said CCTV footagehas made police suspect that one of the robbers is a woman. Police also believe that the entire operation took place in less than 30 minutes.
Navrangpura police said Amit Mishra, the vault officer of SIS Cash Service Pvt Ltd, located at Vasant Vihar Society has lodged the complaint. The gold bars had been taken out from safety vault and kept in frisking and dispatch area in boxes for collection. There were two security guards on night duty Sonpal Sharma from the firm itself, and Satishpal Chau han from Rapid Security Services.
"Mishra stated that he learned about the robbery from Murtaza Ansari, an employee of the firm, at 5am," said a Navrangpura police official. "Ansari informed him that Chauhan was wounded and bleeding profusely. Mishra reached the spot to find that one of the tin trunks containing gold bars had been prised open and two boxes were gone," said the police official.
Chauhan has told investigators that he was on his way to the toilet, outside the delivery room, at about 3.30 am when someone hit him hard on back of his head. He staggered and turned around to find two persons wearing handkerchiefs on their faces. He tried to fight back and in the process fell on one of the persons. The other person hit him repeatedly on his head and shoulders until he fell unconscious.
Woman involved?
The body language of one of the robbers soon came under scanner after which police believe that one of the persons seen in the footage -wearing a sweatshirt and trousers -might be a woman. Police have thus started looking at `Bunty-Babli gangs' active in the state and elsewhere.
Second guard was drunk
When the robbery was in process and Chauhan was attacked and he fell unconscious, Sonpal Sharma, the other security guard, was dozing off in one of the vans parked on the premises. When the firm officials reached the spot and woke him up, he was found inebriated. A complaint for violation of prohibition laws has been registered against him by Navrangpura police.
Inside job?
The investigators are also looking within firm to get clues. "It is known that the firm deals in currency notes and bullion but most of the times, the premises and vans are heavily guarded due to valuables. When the incident took place, the gold was out and there were only two guards, one of them drunk. The footage clearly shows that the robbers are novices as they struggle to open the boxes. In such a scenario, we are looking at all possibilities," said an official.
No CCTV outside premises
The biggest problem the police faced was lack of information on how the robbers came to the spot and how they left. "There are no CCTV cameras installed outside the premises.It is only assumption that the robbers came on a two-wheeler on the basis of the fact that they did not take away the entire trunks as it would have made the job cumbersome," said an official.
Guard also lost money
The complaint mentions that the robbers did not spare Satishpal Chauhan, the security guard beaten up by them. Along with the gold, the robbers also looted Rs 17,000 cash and mobile phone from him possibly when he fell unconscious. Due to his injuries, police have added offence of attempt to murder against the robber duo.
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