Chandigarh: 5 of snatchers' gang land in GRP net

Tribune News Service

Amarjot Kaur

Chandigarh, February 8

The Government Railway Police (GRP) has arrested five members of a gang allegedly involved in three snatching incidents between the night of December 31, 2021 and February 5 this year and at the city railway station.

The gang comprising Vicky, Deepak, Mohammad Jawad, Sarvjeet and Gurjeet was traced by Chandigarh GRP SHO Vilayati Saini and his team on the night of February 6. The suspects have been booked under Section 379A/34 of the IPC. The police also recovered a sum of Rs24,000 and an iPhone 11 from them.

Saini said the suspects had looted a Mohali resident, Nanhay Ram (49), of Rs75,000 on the night of February 5 when he was about to board Sadbhavna Express. “Nanhay told us that the when he entered the coach and reached his seat, a group of five men was already there. When he confronted the group, asking them to vacate the seat, they manhandled him. Two of them held him, while the other person took out a knife and ripped open his pocket where he had kept Rs75,000. They ran away after stealing the money,” Saini said. On February 6, Nanhay visited the GRP police station and got an FIR registered against unknown persons.

“I asked Nanhay to stay with our team as they look for the suspects throughout the day. Then, I summoned him again in the evening. On looking around, he spotted Sarvjeet Singh at the station. He tried to escape, but we nabbed him,” said Saini.

On questioning, Sarvjeet disclosed the names and phone numbers of his four accomplices to the police.

“I traced the location of their cell phones with the help of the Cyber Cell branch of the GRP. We found that they were in Ambala. Sarvjeet told us they had gone to buy smack and chitta. Around 9.30 pm, their location pointed at their advent to the city,” he said.

Saini said Sarvjeet told him about a white car in which his accomplices were travelling.

“We deployed eight of our team members at the exit route of the station to nab them. I stayed put near the bus stop with Sarvjeet who pointed at the car coming from Daria village side. As soon as the driver stepped out of the car, Sarvjeet recognised him and we caught them all,” he said.

All three incidents inside night trains

On New Year’s Eve, a Mohali resident, Chhotu Ram, was leaving for his hometown in Sadbhavna Express. GRP SHO Vilayati Saini said Chhotu was also mugged in a similar manner as was in the case of Nanhay Ram. On December 31, 2021, a group of three persons sat in a coach on Chhotu Ram’s seat. When asked to vacate the seat, the trio picked a fight with Chhotu, pulled out a knife, ripped his pocket and stole Rs5,000, said Saini.

“We registered an FIR and called Chhotu Ram to identify the suspects. He recognised Vicky, aka Rahul, immediately,” he said.

When asked about the iPhone recovered from Vicky, Saini said he confessed to have stolen it from a woman who boarded a night train from Kalka to Howrah on the night of February 4.

“On investigating, I found that a girl named Amandeep Saini had filed a Zero FIR in Old Delhi about the theft of an iPhone and Rs24,000. When contacted, the girl told us that she was sleeping when her satchel, a handbag and the iPhone went missing,” said Saini.

Rs24,000, iPhone recovered from them

The gang comprising Vicky, Deepak, Mohammad Jawad, Sarvjeet and Gurjeet was traced by Chandigarh GRP SHO Vilayati Saini and his team on the night of February 6. The suspects have been booked under Section 379A/34 of the IPC. The police also recovered a sum of Rs24,000 and an iPhone 11 from them.

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