Armed men try to snatch chain from scribe in Noida, fail

Unidentified armed men targeted a journalist in Noida on Wednesday night but failed to snatch his chain after he caught hold of their gun and forced them to flee.

The incident took place around 8.30pm when the 35-year-old journalist, who works with a news channel, had gone to withdraw money from an ATM near his house in Sector 78.

"I was walking back to my home on the wrong side of the lane. A car was following me on the same side and soon it came and stopped in front of me," the scribe said.

"One man came out and asked me the route to Sector 56. While I was guiding him on the way, he took out a pistol and grabbed my chain. When I resisted, he caught hold of my T-shirt while I caught hold of his gun. Soon I raised an alarm after which the man fled the spot in the car," he told PTI.

"I had the magazine of the gun with two live bullets in it, which have been submitted at the police station," he added.

The journalist alleged delay in police response, even as Noida police chief Ajay Pal Sharma took cognisance of the matter.

An FIR was registered at the Sector 49 police station, under whose jurisdiction Sector 71 falls, and a case against unknown persons has been filed under Indian Penal Code section 393 (Attempt to commit robbery).

"The case was registered immediately and probe undertaken. We have checked the CCTV footage for any clue and relayed the information about the car to other areas also," Station House Officer Anita Chauhan told PTI.

On the alleged gap in police response, she said the delay could have been in connecting with the emergency 100 police service.

"We registered the case immediately as we got the complaint," Chauhan said.