Panic among residents after district reports 5 snatching cases in 3 days

Amritsar, August 22

Frequent snatching incidents have become a problem for the Police Department which has failed to check such crime in the district. In the last three days, the rural belt of Amritsar reported at least five cases of snatching. A restaurant and a grocery store owner were among those looted by armed miscreants.

Robbers decamped with cash, mobile phones and vehicles from the victims in areas falling under the Jandiala, Chatiwind, Rajasansi, Kathunangal and Majitha police stations.

Sukhpal Singh, a resident of Majitha, who runs a restaurant — Hello — located on Saran Road in Jandiala said his manager Ranjit Singh called him on Monday night and told him that three armed persons came to his restaurant and looted Rs 32,000 and two mobile phones at gunpoint.

The incidents

• Three armed persons went to a restaurant in Jandiala and looted ~32,000 and two mobile phones at gunpoint
• Two armed bike-borne miscreants looted ~20,000 from shop in Tarn Taran. They also fired a gunshot while fleeing
• In the Rajasansi area, armed suspects snatched a cellphone and a purse that contained ~6,200 and important documents from a resident
• Two bike-borne persons snatched a scooter bearing registration No. PB-06-AQ-6034 from Kadranbad village resident
• Two bike-borne persons snatched ~10,000 and a mobile phone from a resident in Majitha

In a similar incident, armed miscreants looted Rs 20,000 in cash. The suspects also fired a gunshot while fleeing after committing the crime. Magdeep Singh, a resident of Tarn Taran Road, stated to the police that he runs a grocery store and a dhaba. On Tuesday night, two bike-borne persons came to his shop and pointed a pistol at him. They took away Rs 20,000 which was kept in the cash box at his shop. Later, they fled towards Varpal after opening fire at the victim's shop.

In the Rajasansi area, armed suspects snatched a mobile phone and a purse from Lovepreet Singh, a resident of Rajasansi. The victim was having tea in a street with his friend Daljit Singh when three suspects with covered faces arrived there on a scooter. Lovepreet told the police that the suspects pointed a pistol at him. He said the suspects took away his purse that contained

Rs 6,200 in cash and other important documents, including identity cards. The unknown miscreants fled from the spot after firing shots into the air, the victim said.

In another incident, Sumanpreet Kaur, a resident of Kadranbad village, told the Kathunangal police that yesterday she was going towards Fattubhila village when two bike-borne persons snatched her scooter bearing registration number PB-06-AQ-6034.

In the fifth incident, two bike-borne persons snatched Rs 10,000 and a mobile phone from Vijaydeep Singh, a resident of Nag Khurd village at Majitha. He was returning from Shahpur village in Dera Baba Nanak to his native village on his motorcycle when the incident happened. The police have arrested one of the suspects, identified as Sultan Singh, in this connection while his accomplice Harwinder Singh, a resident of Nag Kalan village, is on the run. The incident occurred on the night of August 16 while a case was registered on Wednesday.

When contacted, Charanjit Singh, SSP, Amritsar (Rural), said the police had cracked majority of such cases by identifying suspects. He said efforts were on to nab suspects involved in snatching incidents. The SSP said he had instructed police stations to register FIR for all snatching cases reported in the district.