Dacoity during wedding at house in Karnal, police chase leads to 5 arrests

Within hours of a swift police chase and coordinated efforts between police teams of Karnal, Ambala and Panchkula districts, five persons were arrested from Zirakpur after they allegedly executed a dacoity during the day at Subhash Colony in the city.

A wedding family was held hostage and the groom was shot at before the assailants fled with cash, jewellery and the family’s car. The groom is now reported to be out of danger. The police have recovered the stolen jewellery, cash and car.

As per the information available, the accused were traced with the help of the GPS installed in the stolen car. The vehicle was later abandoned by the suspects within the city. CCTV footage also played a crucial role in tracking their movements.

After abandoning the car, the criminals boarded an auto-rickshaw and then took a bus in an attempt to flee. To mislead the police, they first boarded a bus towards Delhi and got down at Gharaunda. After that, they took another bus towards Chandigarh. However, the Karnal police continued tracking them closely.

Despite a large part of the police force being deployed in Kurukshetra for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit, the joint efforts of the remaining teams led to the arrest of the accused from a bus near Zirakpur.

The accused have been identified as Rajiv alias Raja, Deepak alias Harry, Prince Kumar, Amrit Pal and Abhishek, all residents of Ludhiana (Punjab). Based on the complaint, a case was registered at Civil Lines police station under Sections 310(2), 311, 109, 333, 135, 61(2) BNS and 25/54/59 Arms Act, said Ganga Ram Punia, Superintendent of Police (SP).

The SP said that the operation was made possible through the effective coordination and cooperation of Ambala police and Panchkula police, who assisted immediately upon Karnal police’s request. Due to this joint effort, the accused were arrested within hours of committing the crime. “This case was our priority. Our CIA teams and cyber experts worked aggressively to crack it at the earliest. Our teams kept chasing their movement using GPS and CCTV inputs. All five persons have been arrested and further details are being verified,” he added.

The swift arrests have brought relief to residents and the victim’s family, who were shaken by the violent morning attack.

The incident took place at around 8.20 am, when around five armed men entered the house. When a woman in the family tried to stop them, they attacked her by hitting her with a gun on her head. Without warning, they opened fire and held the entire family hostage at gunpoint in filmy style. During the chaos, the groom, Aditya Pasricha, who had recently arrived from Australia for his wedding scheduled on December 4, sustained a bullet injury.

The robbers then ransacked the house and escaped after looting cash, gold, silver, ornaments worn by the women and the car parked outside the residence.

“We were preparing for our son’s wedding. The robbers entered the house and held the family hostage. They fired five to six rounds and shot my son in his shoulder. We are thankful to the Karnal police led by SP Ganga Ram Punia for arresting the five persons,” said Manoj Pasricha, a construction contractor.

Residents of the surrounding area were stunned by the daring daylight crime, calling it one of the most shocking incidents in the recent past.

After the incident, SP Ganga Ram Punia, along with multiple police teams and forensic experts, reached the spot and began an investigation. Karnal MLA Jagmohan Anand, Mayor Renu Bala Gupta, former Deputy Mayor Manoj Wadhwa, Congress urban district president Parag Gaba and other prominent city residents reached the house and consoled the family.

MLA Anand spoke to SP Punia and assured the family that the miscreants would be arrested at the earliest. “I spoke to the SP and he assured me swift arrest of the persons involved. I appreciate the efforts of Karnal police for the swift action,” said Anand.

The police are assessing the stolen and recovered material as well as checking how and why miscreants from Ludhiana committed a dacoity at a marriage in Karnal. They are also checking the link between the victim family and the dacoits.