Rs 25 lakh robbery cracked; 5 held

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 12

With the arrest of five persons, the city police on Friday claimed to have cracked the Rs 25 lakh robbery that took place on June 25. The armed accused had robbed an employee of a cash management firm at Rattan Singh Chowk.

Those arrested were identified as Navdeep Singh of Gali Punjab Wali, Paramdeep Singh of Guru Arjan Dev Nagar, Sanjaypal Singh, Simrat Singh and Harjinder Singh of Mulle Chak village. The police have seized two pistols, a bike and a car which were used in the crime.

According to the police, Simrat and Harjinder Singh had sheltered the accused after the crime.

The victim, Kulwinder Singh, was going to his office on a scooter when the accused intercepted him and took away his bag containing the cash. He said the accused fired gunshots in the air when he tried to chase them. The accused, travelling on two bikes, had covered their faces.

Kulwinder works with Radiant Cash Management Services Pvt Ltd, which deposits cash of a number of traders with banks. Many prominent businessmen are associated with the company. He had collected the cash from Court Road and Lawrence Road and was going to deposit the same at the company office at the Fatehgarh Churian road when he was targeted.

Police Commissioner SS Srivastav said Navdeep, Sanjaypal and Paramdeep were arrested from a hotel in Rajasthan following a tip-off. One of their accomplices Ranjit Singh of Antarjami Colony was arrested on July 16. The police had recovered Rs 1.5 lakh from him at that time. The bike, which was used in the crime, was snatched by them from Ajit Nagar on June 7.

ADCP Lakhbir Singh said, “After the incident, Simrat Singh and Harjinder Singh took them to their relatives in Palampur in Himachal Pradesh in their car. They helped them hide in different places, so they were also booked in the case. Paramdeep and his accomplice Manna Baba of Tarn Taran had conducted a recce before the crime. He said the police added Sections 392, 395 and 216-A of the IPC.

The police have also arrested Rohit, alias Titu, of Ekta Nagar and recovered a 9-mm pistol from him. This pistol was used in the crime. Ranjit Singh had given it to him after the robbery.