2 held in UP cash van robbery case

Two persons were arrested in connection with the sensational daylight robbery and murder case here, police said today.

Vineet Tiwari, in his 30s, was arrested late last night from Bholakhera village in the Lalganj police station area in Rae Bareli district from his sister's home. His brother-in-law Kavindra Pandey was also arrested for providing him shelter. Tiwari's sister too has been taken into custody, Inspector General (Lucknow range) Sujeet Pandey said.

On July 30, the gunner of the cash van was shot dead and a bag containing around Rs 7 lakh was snatched away by an unidentified miscreant only a couple of kilometres away from the Raj Bhavan in the high-security VVIP zone.

In the joint operation conducted by the Lucknow and Rae Bareli police, Rs 4.73 lakh cash was also recovered, he said.

"Later, the number plate of the vehicle (used in the crime), the looted bag, a country-made pistol and cartridges were also recovered," Pandey said.

Pandey said Tiwari had fired at the gunner and others sitting in the cash van and fled with the bag. For almost 40 minutes, he roamed across different localities of Lucknow and then reached Krishna Nagar locality in the city.

Later, he hid himself in the house of his brother-in-law Kavindra Pandey in Rae Bareily.

The robbery took place at a distance of about a couple of kilometres from the official residence of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and the state Assembly, a day after the successful conclusion of a mega business event, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present.

The police had said the incident took place at around 3.30 pm on the service lane adjacent to the Raj Bhavan colony on Mahatma Gandhi Marg and opposite Axis Bank.