Delhi Metro robbery case: Former employee, aide held

A 21-year-old former DMRC employee has been arrested with his associate in connection with the Rs.12 lakh robbery at the Rajendra Place metro station on April 11.

Pawan, a former Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) employee, was arrested along with his associate Sonu, 22, from their hideouts in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday night, said a police officer.

Police have recovered Rs.10,55,000 of the stolen amount from the possession of the accused.

Police said Pawan and Sonu are the main culprits who entered Rajendra Place metro station at 5.14 a.m. on April 11, and looted Rs.12 lakh from the metro station control room after stabbing on duty metro employee Kunal Kishore.

Kishore is recuperating in a private hospital.

Police had filed a case under sections 394 (voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery), 397 (robbery), and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in connection with the robbery.

Sharing more details about the attackers, Joint Commissioner of Police M.K. Meena said Pawan was the mastermind of the whole incident. "The culprits were held with the help of CCTV footages and the smart cards they had used at the time of committing crime."

"Pawan was a former DMRC employee and had been deployed at the Rajendra Place metro station. So he knew the topography well," Meena said, adding that the robbery was planned around 15 days ago.

The officer said both the culprits had hired an auto-rickshaw from Anand Vihar in east Delhi to reach Rajendra Place metro station.

He said the culprits wore surgical masks to cover their faces for hiding their identity just before entering the metro station.

"Pawan had brought a knife and managed to take it inside the metro premises by hiding it in his socks despite his frisking by the CISF men. After committing the crime, both the attackers exited from the metro station and again took another auto-rickshaw to go back to Anand Vihar. They later went to their place in Kaushambi in Ghaziabad and distributed the looted money," Meena said.

A Delhi police source, who is very close to the investigation, told IANS that the culprits had bought a mobile phone and some other things before leaving for their respective native places.

Pawan and Sonu are residents of Bulandshahr and Amroha in Uttar Pradesh, respectively.

Pawan told police that he wanted to earn quick money as his father had incurred a huge debt during his sister's marriage recently, while Sonu was in search of a job.

The officer further said that Sonu used to meet Pawan and asked him to arrange a job for him in Delhi metro as he was a former employee.

"Pawan misguided Sonu, saying that a metro job was not as good as he thought. He then discussed his robbery plan with Sonu. He also assured Sonu that the metro employees and security personnel would be sleepy in the early morning hours and it would help them in committing the robbery," the officer said.

Asked why Kunal Kishore, the attacked metro employee, did not raise an alarm till about 20 minutes after the incident, Joint CP said: "We are yet to question him properly to know the exact reason behind his action."

The officer, however, did not rule out the possibility of Kishore's involvement in the case.