Some unidentified armed men robbed two employees of a dairy products company of Rs.40 lakh in cash at Raja Garden here on Saturday morning. The incident took place next to a bus stand on a busy stretch of Ring Road.

Eyewitnesses said one of the suspects fired two rounds in the air before taking the cash-filled bag from the car in which the two employees were travelling. The robbers used three motorcycles and a stolen car to commit the crime.

The incident took place around 10-30 a.m. “Two employees of Shivaji Place-based Kwality Dairy India – Ravi (28) and Murari Lal Sharma (30) – were on their way to a bank to deposit the cash. They were travelling in a silver coloured Ritz car,” said a police officer.

They were taking the cash to the Bank of India’s branch in Kirti Nagar

“The two had barely covered 500 metres from their office when they were waylaid on Ring Road near West Gate Mall by a group of men on motorcycles and a Chevrolet Beat car. The Beat car overtook the Ritz and applied brakes, coming to a halt right in front of the car,” said K.K. Jha, the lawyer of Kwality.

Murari, who was at the wheel, could not control the vehicle and rammed the Beat. The engine of the other car stalled and its occupants came out. Around the same time, three motorcycles also reached there.

“They were armed with country-made pistols and surrounded Murari and Ravi. Both were directed to handover the cash. The men opened fire when our employees refused to hand over the bag containing cash,” said Mr. Jha.

As locals started gathering at the spot, the accused opened fire in the air, snatched the bag and drove away on the motorcycles abandoning the car.

The police were informed and a case of dacoity was registered with the Rajouri Garden police station. “The Beat was found to be stolen from Delhi in 2012. Crime and forensic teams have inspected the spot, but we are yet to make any arrest,” said Additional Commissioner of Police (West) Ranvir Singh.

So far several employees of the company have been questioned with the police not ruling out an insider’s involvement. According to the police, Murari and Ravi had been working for the company for the past five years and were always entrusted with the job of depositing the cash.