A wine shop salesman foiled a robbery bid even as he was fired at with a tapancha by two attackers trying to snatch a bag containing Rs.3 lakh at Balanagar on Tuesday night.
Santosh of Balanagar Beers and Wine Stores sustained pellet injuries on his right hand in the attack and is recuperating while the two robbers fled, the police said on Wednesday. Every night, shop owner Suraj comes to the shop located near Shobhana bus-stop in Balanagar to receive the day’s collection.
Around 11 p.m. on Tuesday, his driver Kishan Singh and the salesman collected Rs.3 lakh from the cash counter. They stuffed the currency bundles in a bag and walked up to the car parked on the roadside. Carrying the bag in one hand, the driver opened the door with the other when two strangers emerged from the dark.
One of them pulled the bag from Singh’s hand even as the latter resisted. The bag fell on the road as its strap snapped. Santosh lunged at a robber trying to grab the bag and caught hold of him when the second robber fired at him from a close range.
The robber managed to free himself from the salesman who sustained pellet injuries. Shouting “Bhago, bhago (run, run)’’, the duo took to their heels disappearing into the dark,” Balanagar Inspector S. Mohan Reddy, said.
Police suspect the robbers did a reconnaissance of the shop and kept a tab on the movements of the salesman for a few days before attempting the robbery.
