Hooded gun gang storm post office

Postmaster Suhki Singh

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POLICE are hunting a gang of armed robbers who smashed their way into a village post office and stole £2,500.

The masked gang of four, including one who was carrying a gun, attacked the Post Office in Woods Lane, Dobcross, at 5.20pm yesterday.

The men, wearing black balaclavas and dark clothing, demanded cash from postmaster Suhki Singh who was behind a security screen.

The raiders used the butt of the gun to smash their way through.

Fortunately, there were no customers in the post office when the raiders struck.

The gang stole £2,500 and several hundreds of pounds worth of foreign currency.

One of the attackers was believed to be wielding an axe, and other members of the gang threatened Mr Singh (25) and demanded he hand over the cash.

The attack, which lasted only a few minutes, took locals completely by surprise.

One villager said: “The first we knew there was any trouble was when we heard the police sirens.

“The next thing, police tapes went up at the post office itself so we realised something was wrong.

“Dobcross is very quiet at that time of the evening and no one realised there was anything untoward.”

Police spent several hours at the scene interviewing Mr Singh who was supported by members of his family who had arrived at the scene to rally round.

The post office was also raided in June, 2006, when raiders smashed their way through a security screen with a hammer, leaving the postmaster badly shocked and needing hospital treatment, before making off with a cash box.

Mr Singh appeared as a contestant on TV’s “Master Chef” last year and is a popular member of the community where he has organising high-profile events to raise money for local charities.

Another villager said: “Suhki is a very active member of the village community.

“He and his family are popular and committed to helping Dobcross in every way. It’s a terrible shame this has happened. It seems to have been a totally unprovoked attack.”