Hours after a factory worker was robbed of Rs 8 lakh near Partap Chowk on Tuesday evening, robbers targeted two more residents later in the night, even opening fire at one of them.
Police said seven men riding two motorcycles robbed a civil contractor of Rs 1.5 lakh in cash near his house on Chimni Road, Shimlapuri.
The victim, Abhimanyu Kumar Mehta, alias Manu, 25, said he was supervising the construction of a cycle factory’s building in Jaspal Bangar village on Tuesday. After wrapping up work, he headed home on his motorcycle when seven men intercepted him on Chimni Road around 11.30pm.
While two men threatened him with pistols, the others brandished sharp-edged weapons, threatening to kill him. Within moments, they snatched his bag containing Rs 1.5 lakh and sped off.
Victim alleges poor response by police
Mehta claimed while he instantly sounded the police, cops took an hour to reach the spot, while the accused had already made good their escape. He alleged the cops also questioned him for commuting late at night.
Further, his work day on Wednesday was ruined as the police kept him waiting at the Shimlapuri police station till 3pm while a meeting of police officials was underway. Hence, he had to skip jobs at 11 locations in Ludhiana and Jalandhar.
{{/usCountry}}Further, his work day on Wednesday was ruined as the police kept him waiting at the Shimlapuri police station till 3pm while a meeting of police officials was underway. Hence, he had to skip jobs at 11 locations in Ludhiana and Jalandhar.
{{/usCountry}}However, additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP, City 2) Jaskiranjit Singh Teja refuted the allegations, stating that the police promptly reached the crime scene.
MAN TRYING TO EVADE ROBBERS SHOT AT
Not long after Abhimanyu was robbed at gunpoint, four men on two motorcycles opened fire at a 40-year-old man after he tried to escape being robbed.
Mukesh Kumar Mehta, however, had a close shave as the bullet hit the backlight of his scooter and he managed to shake off the robbers.
Mukesh, who works at the dry port at Dhandhari and lives in Gurpal Nagar, said normally he returned home from work around 6pm, but on Tuesday night visited a friend’s house on Daba Road to watch the Indian Premier League (IPL) match between Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings.
After the match was over, he left for home around 11.30pm. On his way, he realised two motorcycles were following him on Daba Road, so he started speeding to lose them.
But the four men soon caught up with him and threatened him to stop. When he did not submit, one of the men opened fire, hitting his scooter’s tail light.
He managed to frantically drive back home while losing the robbers and soon after alerted the police.
The Division Number 6 police reached the spot and recovered a bullet shell.
ADCP (City 2) Jaskiranjit Singh Teja said separate FIRs had been registered in both cases at the Shimlapuri and Division Number 6 police stations. “As per preliminary investigation, both attacks seem to be the handiwork of the same gang,” he added.
Commissioner of police Rakesh Agrawal said after several robberies around Miller Ganj and Gill Road, police had intensified patrolling in the area, and special teams had been formed to solve these cases.