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Thursday, March 28, 2024

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Thursday, March 28, 2024

City petrol pump looted, attempt at another fails

Incidents raise question over law and order situation

SHILLONG:

A heist in a petrol pump and an attempt in another in the heart of the state capital on Saturday night in the space of minutes have put a question mark on the prevailing law and order situation in the city.

The distance between Assam Auto Agency petrol pump next to the Pantaloons showroom on Jowai Road and the Nongrim Hills petrol pump is just around 1.5 km, but the confidence with which the masked men entered both the filling stations points to a veritable law and order breakdown.

According to reports, in the first incident, two armed and masked men came on a motorcycle and entered the Assam Auto Agency petrol pump at around 9 pm.

A little later another fuel refilling station situated at Nongrim Hills was also raided.

At the Assam Auto Agency petrol pump, CCTV footages showed two men on a motorbike arriving.

From this particular petrol pump the masked men looted around Rs 2.80 lakhs According to the employees of the pump, the duo entered the room where cash was kept and snatched it. After taking away the cash the men told the employees not to tell anyone and fled.

On Sunday morning employees of the petrol pump found a live AK rifle bullet.

However, the men who raided the petrol pump at Nongrim Hills could not take away cash from there. According to the employees, the men who had come on a two-wheeler asked them to stand on one side and started demanding money.

Two men, who were wearing helmets and masked, entered the room where cash was kept and demanded that the employees take out cash from the drawer. One of the men, who had a weapon, which seemed like a gun and wrapped in a gunny bag, threatened one of the employees to hand over the cash.

Another man checked the drawer, but when they did not find any cash they left the place.

However, it could not be ascertained if the two petrol pumps were raided by the same men.

This is the third such incident within a month. It may be mentioned that on January 8 a petrol pump located at 14th Mile, Byrnihat, Ri-Bhoi district was also looted.

Police sources informed that they were investigating the incidents. No further details were shared.

The opposition Congress has expressed concern over growing incidents of robbery.

” What is worrying is the use of sophisticated weapons in these crimes,” CLP leader Ampareen Lyngdoh said on Sunday.

Lyngdoh asserted that the petrol pumps could have been placed on high alert since there had been already an incident.

Stating that police have a huge task ahead, she, however, said restoration of public confidence in the handling of the IED blast at Police Bazar reminds the citizens that it is possible to track and nab perpetrators of such acts of violence.

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