Armed robbers strike at three petrol pumps

SURAT: Armed gang of four robbers looted Rs1.10 lakh cash from two petrol pumps located 70km apart from each other in Valsad and Surat districts on Sunday. Police are investigating if the same gang was involved in loot and murder at a petrol pump in Silvassa on Saturday.

The robbers on two motorcycles first targeted a petrol pump on National Highway no 48 at Rola village in Valsad.They came at Rushank Petroleum with their faces covered and on two motorcycles without registration number plates at around 3.15am. They first got the fuel tanks of their motorcycles full and later put a gun to the head of the complainant Rajendra Deshmukh, an attendant at the petrol pump. They looted Deskhmukh and his colleague Devendra of cash and from the office too. The robbers took away 95,000 cash and three mobiles phones from the petrol pump. A complaint was lodged at Dungri police station with regard to this case. Police are examining CCTV footages for clues about the robbers.
The gang then struck at another petrol pump near Bardoli of Surat district exactly after one hour and 45 minutes. They looted Rs15,000 cash from Sai Nath Petrol Pump at Afwa village by showing a gun and a knife to Anand Dhodiya and Jayram Chaudhary, the two employees on duty. They escaped with two mobile phones of the employees too. The complaint of the loot was registered at Bardoli police station.
Police suspect that the robbers were not carrying a real gun. Valsad police suspect that the same gang was involved in loot and murder of a person at a petrol pump in Silvassa. The robbers targeted Sai Nath Petrol Pump on Silvassa-Vasna Road and attacked three employees namely Jitesh Patel, Prakash Takhor and Ashok Patel. They stabbed the victims with a knife, which resulted in Jitesh’s death during treatment. “The robbers had come to carry out a loot at the petrol pump but escaped due to staff’s resistance. The robbers violently attacked the employees in their bid to escape from the location. We are yet to identify the robbers,” said an officer of Silvassa police station.
“Clothes and motorcycles of the robbers who carried out loots at the two petrol pumps in Gujarat are similar. Different teams of Bardoli police are investigating the case,” said an officer of Bardoli police station. “The same gang is suspected to be involved in the loots at Silvassa, Valsad and Surat. We have got some useful leads and are working on them,” Sunil Joshi, superintendent of police Valsad.