Policemen investigate the spot where the incident took place on Monday afternoon. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, June 6: A 25-year-old accountant of a private firm was reportedly held at gunpoint this afternoon by two persons at his Bistupur office and robbed of office cash amounting to Rs 1.5 lakh, highlighting the city’s growing lawlessness.

Though police are dubious about the victim’s claims, this, if proved, is the third case of gunpoint robbery in the city in the past 72 hours.

According to police sources, at 4.30pm, Bhuiyandih resident Abhishek Jha, an accountant with Four Star Emovins, a Gamharia-based firm, was alone at his city office near Bistupur Traffic Park on L Road. According to Abhishek’s statement to the police, two persons entered the office, held him at gunpoint and snatched the keys to the lockers. Then they locked him up in an adjacent room and cleaned out Rs 1.5 lakh, before decamping on two bikes. Interestingly, one bike belonged to the accountant.

Abhishek was rescued after a colleague came to the office and heard him banging on the door of the room he was locked in. He lodged a complaint with Bistupur police. However, inspector and officer in charge Pramod Kumar Singh said they were not fully satisfied with Abhishek’s version. “Prima facie, it appears suspicious. The area is in the heart of the city and very busy. But investigations are on to verify Abhishek’s claims,” he said.

Meanwhile, no headway has been made in the Telco snatching-cum-murder case and Baridih killing that rocked the city on Saturday. While Anuradha Pandey (55) was shot by snatchers at 3pm at Telco’s Ghari Park, Vishal Rai (14) fell to bullets at 9pm in Baridih when he tried to protect his mother Asha Devi from snatchers. More than 48 hours later, city deputy superintendent of police Alok Kumar could only say they were “trying” to crack the cases.

Meanwhile, at Kapali, Seraikela, 10km from city limits, the inter-gang war that claimed the life of Mohammed Kallu (25) yesterday had a fresh sequel in the form of a revenge shooting. Sajid Rafique, of a rival gang, was shot at by Kalu’s gang, said Chandil circle inspector K.N. Mishra.