53-year-old victim was gathering ornaments and cash for her son's marriage

What's interesting is that the culprits conned the victim into opening the door by calling out her name. Rama Devi, 53, was preparing for the wedding of her son Akash, a software engineer with an MNC in Gurgaon. She had collected Rs 4 lakh in cash apart from some jewellery at her Mandawali home for the ceremony next month.


Scattered remains: Armed assailants looted gold and cash from a house
in Mandawali area of east Delhi. PIC/mid day

On Thursday afternoon Rama Devi heard someone call out her name from outside the front door. As soon as she opened it, five armed men barged in. Rama's two maids were with her at the time. The robbers held Rama at gunpoint and locked the maids Renu and Laxmi in a room and then asked her for the keys to the safe.

"They entered and held me hostage till they had ransacked the whole house. They put a pistol to my head and asked me for the keys. When I hesitated they beat me up; so finally I handed over the keys. They took away all the gold and cash which I had collected for my sons marriage," the victim said.

Rama Devi's husband Vinod Aggarwal, 56, is a businessman and was on a tour of Haridwar on the day of the incident. Both her sons Ankur and Akash were in Gurgaon."They robbed 500 gm of gold jewellery and 4 lakhs rupees in cash from the safe.

They were aware that such a huge amount was kept in the house," Rama added.
The police have lodged an FIR at the Mandawali police station."Our team reached the spot in a short while after the matter was reported. We have registered an FIR against unidentified persons and are investigating the case," said a senior police officer.