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Ludhiana police crack ₹8.49-crore heist with arrest of six
Punjab director general of police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav announced the development in a tweet; efforts underway to nab remaining five accused
Four days after 10 robbers made off with ₹8.49 crore from a cash management company’s office in Ludhiana’s New Rajguru Nagar, police on Wednesday cracked the case with the arrest of six accused, including an employee of the firm.
Stolen cash worth ₹5 crore has been recovered from the accused, who conspired and executed the robbery to turn rich overnight, said police. They have no past criminal record. At least five more accused remain on the run.
The robbery plan was spearheaded by Mandeep Kaur of Barnala and Manpreet Singh of Jagraon in connivance with an employee of the firm CMS, Manjinder Singh, alias Mani, 27, who has been driving their cash van for the past four years.
While Manpreet and Manjinder, who hails from Abuwal village, have been arrested, Mandeep remains on the run.
Police have issued a look-out circular (LOC) for Mandeep, suspecting that she may flee the country to evade arrest.
Others arrested are Harwinder Singh, alias Lambu, 30, from Jagraon; Paramjit Singh, alias Pamma, 38, from Kaunke village; Mandeep’s brother Harpreet Singh, from Barnala, and another accused, whose identity is yet to be revealed.
Apart from Mandeep, among those on the run are her husband Jaswinder Singh, Narinder Singh, alias Happy, of Jagraon and Arun Kumar of Bhai Ghaniya Colony, Barnala.
Police commissioner Mandeep Singh Sidhu said the accused started planning the heist four months ago. They did not use mobile phones to avoid being traced.
The robbers had struck at the company’s office around 2 am on Saturday. After throwing chilli powder in the eyes of five employees, the robbers had held them captive in a server room, before decamping with ₹8.49 crore in cash. The robbers had also taken away a cash van that was later found abandoned in Pandori village near Dakha. Three weapons were also recovered from the van.
A robbery case was registered against the unidentified robbers at the Sarabha Nagar police station.
Ludhiana commissioner of police Mandeep Singh Sidhu on Tuesday had written to chief minister Bhagwant Mann and the DGP to ban operations of the company in the state over poor security arrangements in their offices.
₹10 lakh reward for team that cracked case
Punjab director general of police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav has announced a cash reward of ₹10 lakh for the police team that solved the case.
The DGP had announced the arrests in a tweet earlier in the day: “In a major breakthrough, @Ludhiana_Police, supported by Counter Intelligence has solved the Cash Van Robbery case in less than 60 hours. Out of 10 accused involved in planning, 5 main apprehended and major recovery effected. Investigations are ongoing.”
SIT formed to establish actual amount of loss
Suspecting that the robbed amount is lesser than ₹8.49 crore, as claimed by the company officials, police have constituted a five-member special investigation team to conduct a probe.
