Rs 20-lakh Khanna robbery solved

Our Correspondent

Khanna, January 5

The police today claimed to have solved the robbery where the assailants had snatched Rs 20 lakh from a factory employee after shooting at him.

Seven persons who planned the robbery have been arrested. They have been identified as Sandeep Singh, alias Boxer (who shot the victim) and Nasheel Mogli (motorcycle rider), both residents of Khanna; Vishal Kumar Babbal of Vikas Nagar in Mandi Gobindgarh, Ravi Kumar of Nasrali village, James of Alipur Sandal, Pardeep Singh Soni of Vinod Nagar and Rahul of Model Town in Khanna.

Khanna SSP Dhruv Dahiya said a special team under Jasvir Singh, SP 1-Khanna, solved the case. The FIR was registered on a statement of Bittu Ram of Mudriya village in Fatehgarh Sahib district.

Bittu had told the police that he and his brother Mithu Ram together ran a scrap business at Mandi Gobindgarh. They had hired the services of cash-delivery agent Mehtab Mann, a resident of Jalalpur, near Amloh. On December 5, 2018, Mann withdrew Rs 20 lakh from the Jammu and Kashmir Bank branch. While he was returning to Mandi Gobindgarh on a bike, two motorcycle-borne persons shot him in the thigh near the Markfed building and snatched the bag containing cash.

The SSP said an informer told the police that the robbers were present at bus stand on Samadhi Road and they were planning to flee to the Haryana side. The police raided the spot and arrested the accused.

During questioning, Vishal told the police that he ran a scrap business at Gobindgarh City. He visited the shop of Bittu and Mithu and he knew Mann usually withdrew cash from banks for both brothers. Vishal and Ravi hatched a plan to rob Mann. Ravi shared the robbery plan with James. James, along with Pardeep, Nasheel and Sandeep Singh, also became part of the plan. Sandeep had bought a .32-bore pistol for Rs 45,000 from Muzaffarnagar.

How robbery was executed

According to the plan, Pardeep and Rahul started following Mann from the J&K Bank branch at Khanna. Later Sandeep and Nasheel shot at Mann in the thigh near the Markfed building on GT Road and they snatched Rs 20 lakh from him.

The police have recovered Rs 8.5 lakh and the .32-bore pistol used in the crime. Sandeep is already facing four cases.