Cash collection agent stage-manages daytime loot, arrested

A cash collection agent working with a private company stage-managed the loot of over Rs 23 lakh here and made it look like a daring broad daylight heist, following which he was arrested, police said today.
Rs 23.86 lakh, kept in a bag, were lifted from the motorcycle of the cash collection agent by two persons on Kalidas road here on Tuesday when he parked the two-wheeler along the roadside to attend the nature's call, said Dehradun SSP Nivedita Kukreti.
The agent, Ashutosh Gupta, working with Radiant Cash Managing Private Limited, raised an alarm, saying the "robbers" made away with the money after allegedly throwing chilly powder into his eyes, she said.

However, the police suspected Gupta of lying as the amount looted was huge and he did not seem to have put up any resistance which is normal in case of even smaller incidents of loot, Kukreti said.
He was detained and during interrogation he revealed that he himself had plotted the loot along with his two friends to "teach his employers a lesson" for paying him meagrely, the SSP said.
Ashutosh was arrested immediately after he confessed to the crime and his two friends -- Shrikant Bansal and Ankit Dhiman -- who were part of the plan, were also arrested from the ISBT while they were trying to escape, yesterday, she said.

Rs 23.49 lakh of the looted cash has been recovered from the trio, she said.