In a shocking incident, a liquor company manager was shot dead in broad daylight and the criminals decamped with Rs 22 lakh cash that the manager had brought for depositing in a bank in Satna city on Monday.
“Five miscreants used two motorcycles for perpetrating the crime and to escape. They have been caught on CCTV cameras and the police are using multiple clues to track them,” City Superintendent of Police (CSP) of Satna, Mahendra Singh told media persons.
The incident has sent a wave of terror in Satna city. The CSP said that the victim has been identified as Sanjay Singh, a manager with the Bhatia Group (a liquor company).
Later in the day, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) of Rewa zone K.P. Venkateshwar Rao, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Mithilesh Shukla and Superintendent of Police (SP) Ashutosh Gupta reached the spot of the crime to take stock. The calls made to the SP by THE WEEK went unanswered.
According to sources, the incident occurred at around 1.30pm near a nationalized bank in Mukhtiyar Ganj locality, under Kotwali police station of Satna city. Sanjay Singh used to visit the bank routinely to deposit cash. As Singh was alighting from the back seat of a four-wheeler (driven by company driver), the criminals fired at him from close range, killing him on the spot. Singh sustained a fatal wound in his head.
CCTV footage reportedly showed five criminals on two motorcycles waiting in front of the bank for the manager to arrive. As one of them (wearing a yellow headgear) shot the manager dead, others are said to have fired in the air, causing a panic in the locality. The five miscreants then took the bag of cash and escaped on their motorcycles, all the while waving their firearms. While some of them had masked their faces with scarves, others were unmasked.
Police are checking the footage from CCTV cameras at the Bank and other CCTV cameras installed across the city to find out more about the escape route of the criminals. Sources said that there is likelihood that the criminals had already crossed over to Uttar Pradesh as the interstate border is just 80 kilometres from Satna. The deceased Sanjay Singh also hailed from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh.
Opposition Congress attacked the state government over the brazen crime. Congress media cell chief K.K. Mishra tweeted that the claims of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan that dacoits had been eradicated from the state have proven to be false. “Liquor company manager shot dead in Satna in broad daylight and Rs 22 lakhs looted. Why is crime at its zenith in your rule Shivraj ji?” he said in the tweet.
