Malda villagers foil fuel station robbery

SNS, MALDA, 1 APRIL 2022: It was a scene that came right out of a Bollywood flick. however, in this case, villagers put up a stiff resistance and pushed back a gang of six robbers, who tried to loot the cash box from a fuel station in broad daylight in Hariishchandrapur in Malda. 

As the robbers retreated from the site in the Kapaichandi area, they fired several rounds of bullets in the air, witnesses said. The incident sent shockwaves among local people, especially traders, in the area.

"Six miscreants who came on motorcycle s fled from the area after being chased by the villagers. Although they failed to take the money from the petrol pump, them is widespread panic among the trader community over the shooting incident and the attempted robbery," a local man said.

Police, meanwhile, said they have started investigations into the incident with the help of CCTV footage. "In the footage, investigating police officers saw the miscreants standing in front of the petrol pump and open gunfire in public in broad daylight," a police source said.

According to police and local sources, one Binod Gupta owns the petrol pump in the Kapaichandi area. He is a resident of Tulsihata in Harishchandrapur-I block.

Soon after receiving the news of the incident, police in large numbers from the Harishchandrapur police station rushed to the spot.

"As Bihar is very close to the area, it is being assumed by the investigators that the robbers might have come from the Bihar side," the police source said.

"The armed miscreants had carried out the attack with the intention of robbing the petrol pump. But the villagers stopped the miscreants from looting the money The miscreants fired four rounds in a row and fled from the area. We are terrified after this incident. The whole matter has been reported to the police," the owner of the petrol pump, Mr Gupta, said.