10 robbers hold CMS staff captive in Ludhiana; decamp with Rs 7 crore

Chandigarh: At least 10 masked robbers, with two barging into the office from the front door and others from the rere entrance of cash management service company CMS - Connecting Commerce, in New Rajguru Nagar in Punjab's Ludhiana, and fled with cash worth around Rs 7 crore.

The miscreants held five office security employees captive at gunpoint. The robbers took Rs 4 crore kept at the office and fled with the cash van containing Rs 3 crore on the intervening night of Friday.

Police suspect an insider's involvement in the robbery.

Ludhiana Police Commissioner Mandeep Singh Sidhu told the media that the incident happened around 1.30 a.m. but police were informed at 7 a.m.

"There were at least 10 robbers who also took away the CCTV cameras and the DVR along with them," he said, adding: "The robbers held the night duty staff captive and fled with the cash. They also stole the cash van which too had a huge amount of money in it."

Later, police found the abandoned cash van near Mullanpur on the Ludhiana-Ferozepur road. Two weapons were found inside the abandoned van," Sidhu said.

Prima facie, he said, there was negligence on the part of the company as a huge amount of cash was not kept in lockers.

Some reports say that Rs 10 crore was looted but Sidhu said the amount is being ascertained.

Special teams have been formed to track the criminals.