Ludhiana: From 12 to 96 hours, police crack 15 heinous crime cases in record time

Tribune News Service

Nitin Jain

Ludhiana, September 21

In what appears to be a record of sorts, the Ludhiana Commissionerate Police have cracked at least 15 cases of heinous crime, involving blind murders, dacoities and robberies/snatchings within as less as 12 hours and as long as 96 hours during the past nine months.

It was made possible after the police stations concerned registered FIRs on complaints lodged by victims following which swift action was taken and professional approach in conducting investigations led to arrests of criminals and recoveries of case properties, running into crores of rupees and also illegal arms and ammunition, used to execute the crime.

Commissioner of Police (CP) Mandeep Singh Sidhu, who personally led the investigations in all such cases, told The Tribune here on Thursday that the police stations had been given clear instructions to immediately register FIRs on the receipt of complaints, take swift action and adopt professional approach in conducting the probe.

“Instead of delaying the registration of FIRs and making victims wait long for even getting their cases lodged, we have adopted a proactive approach to register the FIRs forthwith and launch the investigations subsequently, which had led to cracking major cases of heinous crime,” he disclosed.

Sharing the break-up of heinous crime cases cracked in a record time, Sidhu divulged that one case each had been solved within 12, 16, 36, 60 and 96 hours, two with 24 hours, and four cases each had been worked out within 48 and 72 hours.

These record-making cases included eight cases of murder coupled with robbery and seven cases of armed heist, dacoity, robbery and snatching of valuables and vehicles. A triple and double murder cases were among them.

The CP said the state’s biggest heist of Rs 8.49 crore from a cash management firm reported on June 10 was cracked in a record time of 60 hours with the arrest of all 18 accused and recovery of 7.14 crore cash, two vehicles, three .12-bore rifles and other firearms used in the crime.

A shocking triple murder of a resident of New Janak Puri here and his two aged women family members on July 7 was solved with the arrest of the cold-blooded killer, Robin, alias Munna, in 24 hours. The suspect had killed three of the family by hammering them on their heads while they were asleep in their home.

In another bone-chilling murder of an 18-year-old Class XI girl student in Jamalpur, all four killers were nabbed within 24 hours. The victim had left her home for appearing in school exam on December 14 when the group of the four suspects waylaid her and killed her. The girl’s body was recovered from the nearby Bhamian area.

A double murder of a dairy owner and his worker by one of his ex-workers was cracked in 48 hours with the arrest of the killer, Girdhari Lal. The case was reported from Bulara village on February 26.

Another case of murder and robbery was solved within 72 hours with the arrest of all three suspects, Mandeep Singh, Kuldeep Singh and Jobanjeet Singh. In this case, a trader was returning home from his shop on his scooter when the criminals waylaid him and assaulted him before fleeing away with Rs 34.35 lakh cash, which had also been recovered.

In another shocking case, a resident of Kheri village was brutally murdered and his body was concealed in the bed box, which was also set on fire in a bid to destroy the evidence, on June 12. This blind murder case was also solved within 24 hours with the arrest of victim’s niece Jasanpreet Kaur, and her aides Sukhwinder Singh and Yoigesh Kumar. Kaur had got her paternal uncle killed through her aides while alleging ill-treatment.

The police were able to crack another blind murder case of a local resident in the Division 7 area on July 7 within 72 hours with the arrest of the killer couple, Pankaj Sharma and his wife Neha. In this case, the main suspect, who was a serial killer, had chopped off the head and body parts of the victim and had disposed of in a sack. Later, the victim’s children were also abducted, who were also safely recovered.

An international well-knit gold smuggling racket was busted in 24 hours with the arrest of all three smugglers, Azad Singh, Ashu Kumar and Puneet Singh, from whom 1.230 gm gold powder, a 32-bore pistol with magazine, and 5 cartridges had been recovered on September 9. The smugglers had till landing in the police net had got at least 50-kg gold worth around Rs 30 crore smuggled through 50 passengers from Dubai.

The recent case of robbery from a doctor couple’s house in Shaheed Bhagat Nagar here on September 14 was also traced in 96 hours with the arrest of all four robbers —Gurwinder Singh, Pavnee, Jagpreet Singh and Sahildeep Singh, from whom Rs 3.94-crore cash, 271.35-gm gold, 88-gm silver, two cars, a .12-bore revolver and 6 cartridges had been recovered.

DGP Gaurav Yadav has patted the back of Commissioner of Police Mandeep Singh Sidhu and his team of officials, who had created a record of sorts by solving heinous crime cases within such a short duration.

“The professional and scientific approach adopted by the police to work out the blind cases of murder and heist, involving loss of precious lives, cash and valuables worth several crores of rupees is much appreciated,” the DGP remarked while rewarding cops with cash awards and commendation certificates.