Delhi Metro heist: Two stab station controller, flee with Rs 12 lakh

New Delhi, Apr 11: In a daring heist, two unidentified men stormed the control room at a metro station, stabbed the station controller and made away with around Rs 12 lakh cash early this morning unchallenged, raising concerns about security on the mass rapid transit system.

The incident took place around 5.30 AM at Rajinder Place station on the Blue Line of Delhi Metro. The police are yet to ascertain the identity of the assailants.

Around 5.15 AM, two unidentified persons entered the Rajendra Place station through gate number 2. They went past security check unhindered and entered into the paid area, following which they went to platform number 2, a senior Delhi Metro official said.

"Thereafter, they forcibly entered into the station control room located at the platform on the pretext of a complaint and grabbed the on-duty Station Controller, Kunal Kishore. They stabbed him and took away station earning of around Rs 12 lakh.

"At around 5.34 AM, both persons exited the station through Gate number 1. Meanwhile, Kishore was rushed to a hospital and his condition is presently stable," the senior official said.

Station controllers, who work in shifts, are entrusted with looking after multiple areas of management of station premises. They are next to station managers in administrative hierarchy. Joint Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) M K Meena, said a case has been registered and a special team has been formed to nab the accused at the earliest.

A three-inch-long knife was later recovered from the spot. The security of Delhi Metro premises is entrusted to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). The security officials claimed that the men were frisked clean during checking and no knife was found in their baggage too.

"Nobody raised an alarm after the incident and it was a security official who saw the wounded man and enquired about the matter," the official said, adding that the agency has prepared a report on the incident.

An official privy to the investigation said, the two suspects are visible in CCTV grabs but it cannot be ruled out that their accomplices were also present inside the premises or right outside the exit gate of the metro station.

In one of the CCTV grabs that captured the area near the entrance, two men were seen with their faces covered with clothes, which they later removed.

It is also yet to be ascertained whether they carried the knife to the paid area or it was already present there. Blue Line of Delhi Metro connects Dwarka Sector 21 with Noida City Centre and Vaishali in Ghaziabad.

The first train on the route departs from Dwarka Sector 21 station at 4.42 AM.

PTI