E-Paper
Burglary in minister Ashu’s cousin’s house: Police round up suspects
Cops said it was a well-planned operation as they knew the number of family members in the household and their rooms; Kala lives with his wife, son and daughter-in-law in the house and have employed a domestic help as well
A day after a gang of burglars struck at the house of Narinder Kumar Kala, the cousin of Punjab food, civil supplies and consumer affairs minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, and fled with cash, gold and other valuables after sedating the family members, police rounded up some migrant workers from nearby ‘vehra’ dwellings and questioned them on Friday.
In his complaint, Kala said burglars had stolen ₹4 lakh and 150g of jewellery from his house, besides other valuables. The burglars had also stolen the cash in the pockets of Kala and his son. However, their licenced weapon was not taken as the thieves could not find it.
There are no closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in the house but the footage from cameras in the neighbourhood showed some persons scaling the wall to enter and exit the house from an adjoining vacant plot.
Cops said it was a well-planned operation as they knew the number of family members in the household and their rooms. Kala lives with his wife, son and daughter-in-law in the house. They have employed a domestic help as well. Police are looking into the possible role of the domestic help.
Division number 8 station house officer Rajinderpal Singh said a case had been registered under Sections 457 (house-trespass) and 380 (theft) of the Indian Penal Code against unidentified persons.
The incident brought major embarrassment to the police as the house is merely 50 metres away from the office of the Ludhiana police commissioner and cops are under tremendous pressure to solve it.
