A file photo of Saju Samuel with his wife and son; (right) Muthoot Finance company’s office at Untawadi in Nas... Read More

NASHIK: It was the valour of 29-year-old IT engineer Muriyayikara Saju Samuel that saved lives and forced six armed men to beat a hasty retreat during a dacoity attempt at the Untawadi branch of Muthoot Finance here on Friday morning.

Unfortunately, Samuel lost his own life when the robbers, angry with him for taking them on, pumped three bullets into him at point blank range. Samuel, who originally hails from Kerala, was currently residing in the Nerul area of Navi Mumbai with his wife and ten-month-old son. His widowed mother stays at his native place in Kerala.

Nashik police commissioner Vishwas Nangare-Patil told TOI, "We have detained two persons in connection with the incident. We have CCTV footage in which the faces of the goons are clearly visible. Such a crime could not have happened without local support. We will crack the case soon."

The robbers came on three motorcycles to the commercial complex which houses the finance company's office. Brandishing revolvers, they barged into the first floor office around 11.30am and forced seven employees and a few customers, including women, into a corner. When they saw Samuel and the auditor, Kailash Jayan (25), in a room in the back office, they dragged them out. However, before that, Samuel displayed presence of mind to press the burglar alarm.

Samuel managed to free himself from the clutches of the robbers and rushed to help branch manager Chandrashekhar Deshpande (64), who was being repeatedly hit on the head with the butt of a revolver . The robbers were demanding that Deshpande hand over the keys of the strong room where cash and gold were kept.

Deputy commissioner of police Amol Tambe told TOI, "Samuel took on the goons who were thrashing Deshpande and started pushing them back. However, one of them fired three rounds at him in the chest and he collapsed on the floor. As Samuel lay in a pool of blood, the robbers panicked and fled the office immediately without taking any cash or gold."

Techie resists armed robbers at finance co’s office, shot dead

Samuel was immediately rushed to the Nashik Civil Hospital where he was pronounced dead by the doctors. His relatives arrived from Nerul and took his body after the post mortem.

According to the police, Samuel was in Nashik for the last couple of days, working to strengthen the IT system at the office.

Nangare-Patil described Samuel as a strong person. "Eyewitnesses told us he alone retaliated when the robbers were thrashing Deshpande. It's sad that he lost his life in such a tragic manner," he said.

Police officials, quoting some eyewitnesses, said the robbers spoke in Marathi. "We suspect they must have done a recce of the entire area before making this attempt to rob cash and gold from the office," they said.

After the incident, the entire area around the commercial complex was cordoned off and sniffer dogs were pressed into service. There was traffic chaos in the area as vehicular movement on the busy road was stopped for over an hour.

In a statement, R M Diwan, senior general manager of Muthoot Finance Ltd, said the operations at the branch would be temporarily suspended. "We are extending full co-operation to the investigating agencies and the police in the case. We will go the extra mile to extend necessary support to all the affected persons, including our staff, while protecting the customers' valuables. We are putting best efforts to ensure that such incidents do not arise in the future," he added.

