GHAZIABAD: Four men allegedly entered a house in Sector 9 of Kavi Nagar on Tuesday early morning, held an elderly couple at gunpoint for over an hour and fled with Rs 1 lakh and jewellery worth Rs 2 lakh.
While fleeing, the robbers apologised to the woman, touched her feet and assured her that they will return the money in six months. The robbers also told the woman that they needed the cash urgently and offered Rs 500 to her for breakfast.
The incident was reported a day after burglars attacked four houses in Madhuban Bapudham area.
The house belongs to Surendra Verma, an uncle of ex-mayor of Ghaziabad Ashu Verma. Surendra and his wife Aruna were at home when the incident took place. While the couple stay on the ground floor, they have a tenant on the first floor. The building also has a staff quarters where a guard stays with his wife.
Around 3.10 am on Tuesday, Aruna heard some noise and when she switched on the lights, she saw four men opening an almirah. They took her at knifepoint. They also brandished a pistol when Surendra came in. “Later, they took us at gunpoint and asked us to give Rs 2 lakh. When I refused to do so, they said they needed it for someone’s surgery. All of them were in their 20s and wore masks,” Aruna said.
The couple were held hostage for nearly an hour and around 4 am, the men left. “Before that, one of them touched my feet. He said they will return the money in six months. They returned our mobile phones too,” Aruna added.
Anshu Jain, circle officer, Kavi Nagar, said an FIR has been registered under IPC sections 384 (punishment for extortion), 380 (theft in dwelling house, etc) and 457 (lurking house-trespass or house-breaking by night in order to commit offence punishable with imprisonment). “We are checking CCTV footage,” she said.
