Industrialists express dismay over spate of robberies, thefts

Tribune News Service

PK Jaiswar

Amritsar, February 3

Even as the Punjab Government is making efforts and inviting industrialists to set up their units in the state, the business community here is in fear following a spate of robberies and thefts by armed persons on their premises. The Punjab Police have failed to nail the perpetrators.

Recent cases

• On Thursday, over 20 armed persons looted a tile and pipe factory in Beharwal village falling under the Lopoke police station area.
• Around a week ago, around 30 armed robbers decamped with grains worth over Rs 60 lakh from a godown located on Jandiala-Tarn Taran Road.

The industrialists in the holy city, especially those having their units on the Jandiala-Tarn Taran road and the rural belt, are peeved over the apathy of the police and the state government. Amritsar has three ministers in the Punjab Cabinet. Despite that, law and order has become a major issue here.

Instead of nailing the suspects, the police were hiding these cases from the media as it could led to disappointment among the prospective businessmen interested in investing in the border state.

Yesterday, over 20 armed persons looted a tile and pipe factory in Beharwal village falling under the Lopoke police station area. The police were still clueless about the miscreants. Factory owner Kabal Singh reportedly suffered a loss of around Rs 25 lakh. The suspects detained the guard and labourers and snatched their mobile phones at the time of instance so that they could not contact their owners. They took away iron frames used for making tiles and pipes.

This is not the sole incident. Around a week ago, around 30 armed robbers decamped with grains worth over Rs 60 lakh from a godown located on the Jandiala-Tarn Taran Road. They came in two trucks and loaded the grains after detaining guards. Even after six days, the police were still clueless in the case. The entire incident was brushed under the carpet of the Police Department. According to information, the police acted when the owner of the firm raised the issue with a senior AAP leader in Delhi. Nevertheless, the police were still clueless about the perpetrators.

If the business community in the holy city is to be believed, around 10 such instances were reported in the past three months. They demanded that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann should first provide a fear-free atmosphere to the community in the state before inviting big industrialists to invest and set up their units here.

IG Border Range Mohnish Chawla said: “The police are working on these cases. We have also taken a serious note of these back-to-back instances and the probe was on. We will hopefully nab the suspects soon as we are working on certain clues”.

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