Two employees of Badarpur toll booth were allegedly shot dead by four assailants in a suspected robbery bid at their rented accommodation near the MCD toll collection centre in southeast Delhi today.
The deceased persons have been identified as Manmohan Singh Sharma (60), employed as cashier, and Mahipal (50), the gunperson. Both were rushed to a nearby private hospital where they succumbed to their injuries, police said.
In preliminary investigation, the needle of suspicion pointed towards two youths living in the same locality, situated hardly a kilometer away from the toll booth. They are currently preparing for Delhi Police recruitment examination for constables' post and went missing after the incident, which took place around 7 AM today, police said.
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The accused came on two motorcycles and forced themselves inside the rented house in which Manmohan, Mahipal and a few others who worked at the toll both lived.
They opened fire on the two, who were having tea inside the room, and fled with a bag, police said.
"Initially we received information that there has been a robbery of Rs 2.50 crore. Manmohan was reported to be custodian of such an amount collected in the toll booth over a period of time. But later it turned out that the accused made away with a laptop bag which had some clothes in it," an official said.
It was the locals in the area who raised an alarm and the police were informed. Later in the day, senior officials of the district visited the spot.
With local intelligence, investigators zeroed in on two youths and a team has been set up to track them down. The police are also probing the case from the angle of personal rivalry, police said.
Manmohan and Mahipal had joined the private company, which has outsourced the task of tax collection at Badarpur toll booth, a few months ago.
A case of murder has been registered and several persons, mostly locals and colleagues of the deceased, have been questioned, police said, adding, investigation is underway.
