Metro station stabbing, robbery: Sacked employee, associate held

The Indian Express was the first to report that police suspect an acquaintance of Kunal Kishore — the Metro official who was stabbed multiple times during the incident — had planned the robbery. Pawan, a former token operator, had been sacked over complaints of misbehaving with passengers. He had earlier been involved in an altercation with Kishore, who had filed the complaint that led to his sacking.

The duo was arrested after police analysed their travel details from their Metro cards, said Joint Commissioner of Police (New Delhi range) M K Meena.

Police tracked the timestamp on the Metro cards and analysed footage from CCTV cameras at Kaushambi and other Metro stations visited by the duo around that time and date. When the footage was shown to Metro employees at Rajendra Place station, one of them identified both Pawan and Sonu.

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“She identified Pawan and told police he was a former Metro employee… however, by the time police reached Pawan’s home in Ghaziabad, he had fled to Bulandshahr. Police managed to arrest him after questioning his brother Pankaj,” said sources.

Pawan was also identified by Kishore, said police. “In one video, Pawan’s face was clearly visible and he was identified by the victim. Kishore also told police about his fight with Pawan. Police first arrested Pawan, who revealed the name of his accomplice Sonu during questioning. We arrested Sonu from his residence in Ghaziabad,” said Meena.

According to police, Pawan had a mobile recharge shop, where Sonu was a regular customer. “Pawan had incurred a huge debt after his sister’s wedding. He and Sonu decided to carry out the robbery after Pawan explained the loopholes in Metro security,” said a police officer.

Pawan, who was last posted at Rajendra Place Metro station, knew the location of the station control room, said Meena. “He decided to execute the plan early Monday morning as the station’s weekend earnings are stashed in the control room until it is taken to a bank,” said the officer.

Explaining how the duo managed to get away, he said, “They left the station at about 5.30 am. They took an auto-rickshaw to Connaught Place, from where they took another one for Anand Vihar and finally went to Ghaziabad,” he added.

“They later divided the money among themselves. Pawan then bought a cellphone worth Rs 23,000,” said police sources. Police have recovered Rs 10.5 lakh of the money robbed from the station control room.