In an incident that raises serious questions about the security arrangements in Delhi Metro, two unidentified men allegedly looted Rs12 lakh from the control room of Rajendra Place Metro station after stabbing an employee on duty on Monday morning. The injured, identified as Kunal Kishore, the Station Controller, who suffered multiple stab wounds to his stomach, neck and hand, was admitted to a city hospital.
Kishore’s shift was till 7 am in the control room where Rs12 lakh were kept. Joint Commissioner of Police MK Meena said that they registered a case and were investigating it. Several police teams were deployed to nab the culprits, Meena added.
Sources said two unidentified robbers had gained entry into the Metro station by swiping a single card. However, it is yet to be ascertained whether they carried the knife to the paid area or it was already present there, they added.
Meanwhile, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which is responsible for providing security at Metro stations across the national capital region, denied any lapse on its part.
CISF officials said that their personnel on duty had thoroughly frisked the two men and scanned their bags properly. After no suspicious items were found during the frisking, they were allowed to enter the station, they said.
“It may be possible that they used the knife kept inside the station officer’s office to attack the staffer. We are probing the incident,” they added.
They also raised suspicion about the entire sequence of events narrated by the victim and claimed that one CISF personnel had seen the victim with blood stains on his clothes as he was leaving a washroom around 20 minutes after the two men had left the metro premises. When asked about the blood stains, the victim declined to answer, they claimed.
According to a statement issued by the DMRC, the incident happened around 5.15 am on Monday when two unidentified persons entered the paid area of Rajendra Place Metro station, which falls on the blue line of Delhi Metro networks, through gate number 2.
“Thereafter, the men forcibly entered the station control room located at platform number 2 on the pretext of a complaint, and grabbed the on-duty station controller Kunal Kishore. They stabbed him thrice and took away the station earning of approximately Rs12 lakh,” the statement said, adding that both the attackers exited from gate number 1 of the Metro station around 5.34 am.
“Kunal was later admitted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and his condition is presently stable,” a metro official said.
According to sources from DMRC, the two accused were stopped by the CISF personnel during metal detector checking. The CISF officials had asked them to drop the knife outside and then enter but the duo somehow managed to enter the control room with knife.
According to police officials, prima facie it appears to be a planned crime and they are questioning several staff members to ascertain several facts.
“We are analysing the CCTV footage to identify the assailants and only after that we can bring to fore certain facts about the incident,” they said.
An official privy to the investigation said, the two suspects are visible in CCTV grabs but it cannot be ruled out that their accomplices were also present inside the premises or right outside the exit gate of the Metro station. In one of the CCTV grabs that captured the area near the entrance, two men were seen with their faces covered with clothes, which they later removed.
Police said they have filed a case under Sections 394 (voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery), 397 (robbery), and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at the Rajouri Garden Metro police station.
The Rs 12 lakh amount had been collected as earnings over Saturday-Sunday and was to be deposited in a bank on Monday.
Blue line of Delhi Metro connects Dwarka Sector 21 with Noida City Centre and Vaishali in Ghaziabad. The first train on the route departs from Dwarka Sector 21 station at 4.42 am