Collection agents easy targets for robbers

Tribune News Service

PK Jaiswar

Amritsar, September 27

Employees of micro finance companies collecting installments from their clients in villages have become easy targets for robbers who loot them at gunpoint. Six such incidents had occurred in Amritsar rural belt in September alone while the police were yet to make any breakthrough in these cases.

As per their modus operandi, three to four bike-borne persons armed with pistols or sharp edged weapons intercept victims at some secluded road and snatch their kit bag containing cash or other equipment by threatening to kill them. Earlier, certain incidents had occurred when armed looters thrashed finance firm employees and left them injured.

A week ago, two motorcycle-borne armed persons looted Neerajdeep Singh of Dalechak village in Gurdaspur. He works for Bharat Finance Inclusion Limited as a recovery agent. They took away Rs 1.15 from him at gunpoint. Neerajdeep told the police that he took instalements from Mudhal village and was going to deposit the same in the bank at Jethuwal village. He said he stopped on the way for urinating when the accused came to him and snatched cash, tab, biometric machine, etc, from him at gunpoint. Though the police had registered a case on September 20, there has been no progress in the case.

Similarly, armed persons robbed Manish Kumar, a collection agent of Muthoot micro finance limited, of Rs 1.39 lakh on September 14. He told the police that he was going from Balsaran village to Beas when three unidentified persons on motorcycle stopped him near Waraich village and snatched his bag containing cash, tab, mobile and other documents.

On September 13, two such instances were reported in Kathunangal and Mehta police station area. Three bike-borne armed persons looted Sakatar Singh of Talwandi Ghuman village and Naresh Kumar of Dharamkot. They were robbed of Rs 10,000 and Rs 69,400, respectively, from them. Though separate cases were registered in this connection, the police were yet to make any breakthrough. On September 8, Sajan of Tibbar village in Gurdaspur, who works in Bharat finance, was robbed of Rs 28,000 from near Dehriwal village and on September 8, Ranjit Kaur and her husband were going to deposit the collected amount with the Butala office of Satya finance company when they were looted of Rs 29,000 by armed persons.

Gurpartap Singh Sahota, Superintendent of Police, Amritsar Rural Police, said the police had been investigating these incidents and had got some clues about the perpetrators. He said the Amritsar Rural Police would soon arrest them.

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