Dehradun police were still clueless over the petrol pump robbery that took place at Barowala, Patelnagar, on March 30. The miscreants had decamped with thousands of rupees from the pump employees. The incident exposed chinks in the much-vaunted police preparedness to take on crimes in Dehradun city and its adjoining areas. Earlier, Dehradun DIG/SSP Pushpak Jyoti had claimed that police were intensifying night patrolling and launching vehicle checking drives across the city regularly to checkmate crimes that occur in the night hours.
“However, they have failed to stop crimes as the criminals are still on the prowl,” said a worried local. Petalnagar police station sub-inspector Naresh Rathore who is investigating the case said, “We have got some clues and some suspects are being grilled. We hope the case will be cracked in three/ four days.”
It should be mentioned here that Vishwanath, resident of Chamoli and employee of Balaji Petrol Pump, Barowala, registered a complaint, stating that some persons had arrived in a car and brandishing a pistol, took away thousands of rupees and two mobile phones from him and also from one of his colleagues Pritam before escaping. Taking cognisance of this, a case under Section 394 of IPC was registered against unidentified persons in Patelnagar police station the same night.