Watch | Thieves steal Rs 3 lakh from a house in Chandigarh
“The thieves were armed with sharp-edged weapons. They seemed to have done a recce of the house,” said the house owner.
Five thieves struck at the house of Sukhdip Singh Sidhu, the general manager of Punjab Small Industries and Export Corporation Limited (PSIEC), in Sector 21 here and decamped with cash amounting to Rs 3 lakh when the family was sleeping early on Tuesday.
Sidhu was an officer on special duty (OSD) to former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and an additional principal secretary to deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal for five years. At present, he is the PSIEC general manager in Sector 17, Chandigarh.
Sidhu said that the thieves took away Rs 3 lakh, which was withdrawn from a bank to pay labourers as construction was on. The thieves also stole two wrist watches and a mobile phone.
FAMILIAR WITH HOUSE
“The thieves were armed with sharp-edged weapons. They seemed to have done a recce of the house,” Sidhu said.
The CCTV footage shows five persons with faces covered entering the house. They locked the room where the women house helps were sleeping and bolted the room of servants with a sword from outside.
The thieves tried to enter Sidhu’s room but were not successful so they went to the room of his brother and opened the cupboard where the cash was kept.
His sister-in-law woke up due to the commotion around 3am and raised the alarm.
Sidhu’s brother, Gurjinder Singh Sidhu, a national-level shooter, pulled out a weapon and chased the thieves, who fled with the cash.
The police later opened the door of the rooms of the servants.
A case was registered under Sections 380 (theft) and 457 (house trespass) at the Sector 19 police station.
“The thieves with covered faces are yet to be identified,” said Satish Kumar, DSP (East) Chandigarh.