Two persons, including the key suspect, were arrested on Saturday for allegedly looting ₹1.5 crore donation money from a centre run by Kar Sewa, a volunteer service outfit, on Goindwal Sahib road in Tarn Taran town after holding its cashier and gatekeeper captive five days back.
The police have recovered ₹12 lakh of the looted money on the revelation of Sukhchain Singh, alias Chaina (42) of Khurmani village who they say hatched the conspiracy to execute the robbery.
The other arrested suspect was identified as the Lakhwinder Singh, alias Lakha (38) of Kamboke village in Baba Bakala sub-division of the district.
A senior police official said they have identified four more suspects in the case —Satnam Singh, alias Satta of Sangha village in Tarn Taran, Tarsem Singh, alias Grota (35), Sukhwinder Singh, alias Baba (45), and Balwinder Singh, alias Billa of Khurmani village in Amritsar. Satnam worked as a driver at the centre, Dera Baba Jeevan Singh, and was aware where the donation money was kept, it was claimed.
Chaina is a former militant and a smuggler, it is learnt.
{{/usCountry}}Chaina is a former militant and a smuggler, it is learnt.
{{/usCountry}}A special investigation team (SIT) led by superintendent of police (SP investigation) Jagjit Singh Walia was formed to look into the case.
After getting a tip-off about Chaina’s involvement in the heist, the SIT on Friday arrested him Chaina from Pandoori village and recovered ₹12 lakh at his instance. “We identified the other accused during Chaina’s interrogation. Satnam is a relative of Chaina who thought the dera management would not report the incident to the police as it had not been maintaining records of donations. After the loot, the money was distributed among all the accused,” Walia added.
At a press conference, senior superintendent of police (SSP) Dhruv Dahiya said Chaina has already spent 10 years in jail. “Also, Lakhwinder and Tarsem Singh have been booked in various criminal cases. Raids are being conducted to nab the other accused,” he said.