Ranjodh Singh snatching gang eliminated, claim Batala cops

Ravi Dhaliwal

Batala, May 6

After studying its modus operandi for nearly a month, the Batala police finally claimed to have decimated the infamous Ranjodh Singh snatching gang which had created terror among the city residents, particularly women.

The cops nabbed two of the gang members today taking the total number of arrests to nine. Seven of the nine members had been nabbed in the recent weeks. With this, police officials say, the gang stands completely neutralised.

Five pistols, an equal number of magazines, two cars and five motorcycles were seized by the police.

Residents heaved a sigh of relief when news spread that the entire gang had been marginalised.

Such was the terror of the gang that women feared going out alone.

A total of five FIRs had been registered against the offenders at various police stations of the Batala police district. Three of the FIRs carried attempt to murder charge (307 IPC) against the members.

The police had launched a concerted drive against snatchers and robbers for the last one month.

SSP Ashwini Gotyal, whose penchant for arriving at the scene of crime to personally supervise the operations, is being appreciated by residents, formed a team which was led by Gurpreet Singh, SP (Investigation).

An officer said the police studied the gang’s modus operandi before finally giving contours to its operation.

“They had a set-up in which at least three members were involved in every snatching. They used to have a watcher, rider and snatcher. The watcher would update the other two about the target and the exact location on a particular street. In a majority of the cases, motorcycles were used because of their ability to easily make their way through crowded locations. Once the crime was committed, the watcher would then proceed to the spot to see if the police were being called or not. He would also mislead the victim and the witnesses by giving wrong directions in which the snatchers had fled,” disclosed an official engaged in the operation.

Meanwhile, even as the police were targeting the gang of snatchers, they stumbled upon certain clues relating to the blind murder of one Sarwan Singh and arrested the accused Sukhraj Singh. He had nine FIRs registered against him at various police stations in Punjab and Delhi.

“This should act as a warning to other criminals operating in the city. Our aim is to make Batala a crime-free city,” said SSP Gotyal.