Chhatarpur (MP), Sep 6 (PTI) Two men wearing masks boarded a private bus and robbed a few passengers at gunpoint in Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh on Friday, but were arrested within a few hours, police said.
The incident occurred in the morning, the police said, adding that during the probe, it came to light that the duo committed the crime to pay off their loans.
According to the passengers, the accused fired a round in the air when they resisted.
"Two motorbike-borne men waved at the bus, indicating its driver to stop the vehicle at Patharya crossing, about 8 km from district headquarters. The duo then boarded the bus and snatched money from the conductor, a 'mangalsutra' (necklace) and a mobile phone from a woman before fleeing," Superintendent of Police Aagam Jain told reporters.
Accused Rahul Tiwari (20) and Rajendra Patel (18), hailing from Banda district in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh were arrested within a few hours and booked under robbery and other charges of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), he said.
Both of them told the police that they committed the crime to pay off their loans which they had taken to purchase motorcycles, the SP said.
Talking about the incident, bus driver Kishori Kushwaha said after the two robbers waved at the crossing, I stopped the vehicle with 20-odd people on the board, thinking the two wanted to board it.
The bus on its way to Satna district from Chhatarpur.
"After a while one of them whipped out a firearm and threatened the passengers. They snatched jewellery and cash from women sitting in the front row. When these women protested, a shot was fired in the air," he added.
Harendra Mishra, a passenger in the bus, said, "We were travelling by bus, when two men stopped the vehicle at Pathariya crossing. Soon after boarding it, they started robbing the passengers."
Both of them had covered their faces. While one was armed with a country-made pistol, the other one carried a stick, he said.
One of the robbers put the firearm at the temple of the driver, abused him and took the keys of the bus from him, he said.
"One by one, they snatched away the money, mobile phones and mangalsutras of passengers. A round was fired in the air when the passengers protested," Mishra said.
Aarti Ahirwar, a Dalit woman who was robbed by them, said she boarded the bus with her family members from Lavkush Nagar to reach Rajnagar in the district.
"The robbers snatched my mangalsutra and took away my child's gold locket and Rs 18,000 from my husband," she said.
Ahitwar said she and her husband were labourers and worked in Delhi to earn livelihood.
According to her, she had returned home for the treatment of her daughter, who recently lost her eyesight.