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Jobless man on gunpoint robbery spree arrested by Ambala police
Rajpura man robbed two scooters in Mohali before snatching a car from an Ambala-based scrap dealer after opening fire at him and his son on July 3
Probing into the July 3 car robbery in Manakpur village of Ambala City, local police have arrested a 42-year-old jobless man who had also snatched two scooters in Mohali, including one from a minor girl on Airport Road on June 12.
The accused, Nazirgir, a resident of Patiala’s Rajpura, was arrested from his home town on Thursday. The Hyundai i20 robbed from Ambala and an imported pistol were recovered from him.
Giving details, superintendent of police Jashandeep Singh Randhawa, said on the night of July 3, the accused had shot at a BJP leader and scrap dealer, Gulshan Kumar, 65, and his son, Paras Bhatia, 28, and snatched their Hyundai i20 car while they were inspecting their under-construction site in Manakpur village. While fleeing in the car, the accused left behind a Honda Dio scooter that became crucial evidence.
“During the probe, it was found that the said two-wheeler was robbed at gunpoint from a 14-year-old girl near Chhat light point on Airport Road in Mohali on June 12. There too, the accused had abandoned a Honda Activa, which was found to have been robbed from Dera Bassi on June 3,” the SP said.
Randhawa said several teams were on the robber’s trail after the July 3 incident and a joint team of CIA-1 and cyber cell, under inspector Sandeep Kumar, arrested him based on human and technical intelligence.
Turned to crime after losses in photography business
According to investigators, during interrogation, the accused disclosed that his wife and father died almost two decades ago, and he lived with his mother in Nalam Kalan village, almost 30 km away from Ambala.
“He used to have a photography business at his native village, but suffered huge losses, possibly amid the Covid-19 pandemic, and turned to crime to make easy money,” inspector Sandeep said.
“In the Airport Road incident, his motive was to snatch mobile phone and other valuables from the girl, but after being unsuccessful, he fled with her two-wheeler. He also replaced the number plate of all snatched vehicles after the crime. The number of the Ambala-registered Hyundai i20 was also changed with one bearing a Karnal number,” the SP said.
The official added that they were looking into the source of the imported pistol recovered from the accused.
He was presented before a court that granted three days of remand to the police.
