US techie getting into cab for IGI robbed at dawn

Ghaziabad: A US-based software engineer and his family loading luggage on to a cab to go to Delhi airport were robbed of valuables worth Rs 1.5 lakh by two gun-wielding miscreants in Surya Nagar early on Monday.
Rajesh Pandey (48), the son of a former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) officer, had come to his father’s house in Ghaziabad with his wife and two daughters on a two-week vacation on Saturday. Around 3.30am on Monday, Rajesh had booked a cab to go to Delhi airport for Bangalore and was loading luggage on to the vehicle when a masked man pointed a gun at him and asked him to hand over whatever he had.
“No sooner did the guard of the housing society open the gates to let the cab in, a man wearing a mask rushed towards Rajesh and pointed a gun to his head. He snatched Rs 15,000 from my son and two mobile phones that were kept in his pockets,” said Narayan Dutt Pandey (72), who retired from RWA as a field officer.
The snatching took place right under the house of Narayan Dutt in Ramprastha B block. When Rajesh’s wife Rashmi came downstairs, the attacker put the gun on one of their daughters’ temple and asked her mother to hand over a gold chain she was wearing.
“I rushed downstairs and tried to overpower him, but he pushed me to the ground. His accomplice rushed to his rescue and put a gun on my younger granddaughter’s head. Rashmi immediately handed them over her chain,” he added. After snatching the chain, the attackers fled on a white scooterette that was being driven by a third accomplice.
The retired officer called up the police control room and lodged a complaint later. An FIR was subsequently registered against unidentified persons under IPC section 394 (voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery). SP (city) Shlok Kumar said: “We have recovered CCTV footage that has captured the robbery. The miscreants might have been following the taxi and fled towards Delhi after committing the crime. A probe has been initiated.”