Gun-toting carjackers strike in Mohali, nabbed in 24 hours

Trio had snatched Jammu native’s car in Phase 3B1 past Wednesday midnight; caught following an encounter on the Phase 3B2/5 dividing road

A gang of three carjackers, who robbed a Mohali resident of his car past Wednesday midnight to further execute highway robberies in Fatehgarh Sahib, was caught by Mohali police within 24 hours following an encounter on the Phase 3B2/5 dividing road.

The accused in the custody of Mohali police. (HT)

One of the three robbers, identified as Gurmukh Singh Monty, the prime accused, suffered a bullet wound on his left leg in the exchange of fire between police and the gang.

His accomplices are Varinder Singh, alias Vicky, 21, and Karan, 19, both brothers. All three are residents of Amloh, Fatehgarh Sahib. A .32-bore pistol, a country made .315-bore pistol and live cartridges were recovered from them.

As per investigators, they had snatched the Ford Figo of Aman Kumar, 24, a resident of Phase 3B1 and native of Jammu, while he was sitting in the vehicle on the roadside near his house around 1.45 am on Thursday.

Threatening him with weapons, the trio asked Kumar to step down from the vehicle and drove off with it. A robbery and criminal intimidation case, along with relevant sections of the Arms Act, was registered at the Mataur police station on the complaint of the victim, who works for a logistics company.

SP (Investigation) Amandeep Singh Brar said noticing the police, the accused tried to flee by taking a quick U-turn. A chase ensued and the police team managed to intercept the vehicle.

“On being told to pull over, the accused fired shots at the cops, who responded with fire. While Varinder and Karan ran towards a nearby park for cover, Gurmukh was shot in the leg and fell outside the car’s driver side,” said the SP.

Police overpowered all three accused and took Gurmukh to the civil hospital in Phase 6, where his condition is stable, said Brar.

School drop-outs had been robbing truck drivers

Police said brothers Varinder and Karan were school drop-outs and entered the world of crime for quick money.

According to police sources, truck drivers on the Sirhind-Fatehgarh Sahib highway were their primary target. They, along with Gurmukh, had attacked several truck drivers with sharp-edged weapons and snatched their mobile phones and cash.

Sources said on Wednesday night, they first stole a motorcycle from Fatehgarh Sahib and reached Mohali to rob a car that they planned to use in committing highway robberies.

Police are probing the source of their weapons and are also working to establish the number of robberies executed by them.

Mataur SHO Gabbar Singh said police had also slapped Sections 307, 186, 353 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code on the accused for opening fire at the police.

Gurmukh is already booked in two theft cases in Sirhind and Mandi Gobindgarh.