A security guard of the Punjab National Bank (PNB) was shot dead by unidentified bike-borne assailants who looted ₹14 lakh cash from the van at Purab Pokhara locality near Sonhan bus stand in Bhabua on Saturday, police said.
Police said, according to eyewitnesses, three armed men came on an Apache bike, shot a security guard, looted the van, took the guns of guards and fled away towards Mohania through the by-pass road.
Lalit Mohan Sharma, Superintendent of police (SP), Bhabua, reached the incident and reviewed CCTV footage of the ATM and the shops in the area to identify the assailants.
“The police station situated on the criminal’s escape route was alerted and police teams are conducting raids to trace the criminals,” SP Sharma said.
The incident occurred at about 1pm when the cash van was parked at an ATM and the staff was loading cash into the ATM, police said.
According to the police, the assailants came and drew guns and asked the staff to hand over the cash box, when one guard identified as Bhanu Pratap Chaubey (30) tried to stop them, they threw chilly powder in his eyes and shot him in the chest.
Seeing this, another guard identified as Md. Firoz Ansari threw his gun and fled away with the van driver, police said.
Upon reaching the spot, police personnel took the injured guard to Sadar Hospital where he was declared brought dead.
Hundreds were present when the incident took place on Saturday afternoon, however, no one interfered for fear of death.
“Such daredevil crime had never been reported at Bhabua in the last three decades. It was the work of some expert gang,” one of the eyewitnesses said.
The two DBBL 12-bore guns, looted from the guards, were thrown away by the criminals in the way which was recovered by the police.
Meanwhile, the van’s driver, who came to the hospital to check on Choubey, was apprehended by the family members of the deceased guard suspecting his involvement in the crime. They later handed him over to the police.
Upon interrogating the driver, he informed police that there were ₹13-14 lakhs in the van’s cash box that was looted, police said.
Security guard Ansari, who fled the spot at the time of the incident, was also apprehended by the police when he turned up at the bank.
Police are quizzing both in the matter.
