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Chandigarh: Man who drove off without paying for with diesel worth ₹26,500 held
Identified as Harjeet Singh, alias Pargat, 28, the accused is a resident of Marauli Khurd village in Chamkaur Sahib, Rupnagar, and had come to Chandigarh to participate in the ongoing protest by Qaumi Insaaf Morcha in Mohali
Over two weeks after two youths in an SUV drove off without paying for diesel worth ₹26,500 at a petrol pump in Sector 55 on February 3, police have arrested one of the accused.
Identified as Harjeet Singh, alias Pargat, 28, the accused is a resident of Marauli Khurd village in Chamkaur Sahib, Rupnagar, and had come to Chandigarh to participate in the ongoing protest by Qaumi Insaaf Morcha in Mohali.
According to police, on February 3, Harjeet and his unidentified accomplice visited the petrol pump around 6.20 am and got the tank of a white Maruti Suzuki Brezza, along with six jerry cans, filled with a total of 314.51 litres of diesel. When given the bill of ₹26,500 for the fuel, they had sped away without paying.
Following this, police at the Sector-39 station had booked the accused under Sections 420 (cheating), 473 (making or possessing counterfeit seal, etc., with intent to commit forgery punishable otherwise) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, and launched a probe to arrest them.
Upon checking the registration number of the vehicle, they had found it belonged to a scooter.
Following further investigation, police managed to arrest Harjeet on the identification of the complainant, and also recovered the car and empty jerry cans used in the crime.
Camped with YPS Chowk protesters before theft
After taking the accused on one-day remand, police discovered that Harjeet, along with his accomplice, had come to Chandigarh on February 2 to join the Qaumi Insaaf Morcha and committed the crime the next day.
Speaking about this, deputy superintendent of police (DSP, South West) Charanjit Singh Virk said the accused camped with the protesters for the night and later fled the city after the fuel theft.
The accused has yet not revealed what he did with the fuel, but it is suspected that it was used for the morcha’s vehicles.
According to police, the accused comes from an agricultural background and participates in tractor stunt competitions. He was previously also booked in 2019 for criminal intimidation and assaulting a public servant in 2022.
Police officials said his accomplice will also be arrested shortly.
Earlier on February 14, police had apprehended two more persons participating in the morcha’s protest for snatching the mobile phone of a Ram Darbar resident.
The accused, Harjit Singh, 42, of Ludhiana, and a 17-year-old juvenile had been residing at the morcha’s protest site for a week before committing the crime on February 13.
