Mohali PNB robbery cracked, 3 arrested

Tribune News Service

Mohali, July 12

Over three weeks after a daylight robbery at an all-woman branch of Punjab National Bank (PNB) in Phase 3A here, the Mohali police cracked the case with the arrest of three suspects, who had allegedly robbed Rs4.79 lakh on June 17.

The suspects have been identified as Sandeep Khurmi (28), alias Sunny, a resident of Mehtapur village in Jalandhar, Sonu (28), a resident of Sector 45, and Ravi Kothari (28), a native of Hisar who stays in Mani Majra. All three are matriculates.

Had looted Rs 4.79 lakh, over Rs 3 lakh recovered

• The suspects have been identified as Sandeep Khurmi (28), alias Sunny, a resident of Mehtapur village in Jalandhar, Sonu (28), a resident of Sector 45, and Ravi Kothari (28), a native of Hisar who stays in Mani Majra. All three are matriculates
• They had allegedly robbed Rs4.79 lakh from an all-woman branch of Punjab National Bank in Phase 3A, Mohali, on June 17. The police have recovered over Rs3 lakh from them, besides a Skoda car (CH 03T 3190) used in the crime and a knife

Briefing mediapersons here today, Mohali Senior Superintendent of Police Kuldeep Singh Chahal said all three suspects had a criminal background. He said two of them had been released from the Ambala jail in view of the pandemic. He said they had recovered over Rs3 lakh from them of the Rs4.79 lakh looted by them with the help of an air gun from the PNB.

Chahal said Sandeep and Sonu had gone inside the bank during lunch time, while Ravi remained outside. He said they had also recovered a Skoda car (CH 03T 3190) used in the crime and a knife. He said Sandeep and Sonu were released from the Ambala jail in March this year due to Covid-19. They ran out of money and decided to commit crime to "make easy money". Ravi conducted a recce of various places in Mohali city and found that in Phase 3-A, there was no security guard, he said.

An investigation team comprising Harmandeep Singh Hans, SP (Investigations), Gursher Singh Sandhu, DSP, Inspector Rajesh Arora, in-charge, Crime Investigation Agency (CIA), and Rajeev Kumar, SHO, Mataur police station, cracked the case.

Chahal said around 20 cases of robbery, snatching, murder and under the Arms Act were registered against Sandeep in Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula, while four cases of snatching and looting were registered against Sonu. Three cases of snatching, looting and under the Arms Act were registered against Ravi.

Gursher Singh Sandhu, DSP, said after the bank robbery, all three went in different directions and later burnt their clothes in a bid to hide their identity. He said they were arrested from Mohali and would be produced in a court tomorrow.

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