Ludhiana police crack multi-crore heist at doctor couple’s house, arrest four

Along with cash, jewellery worth ₹22 lakh was also recovered from the accused; Ludhiana police also suspect involvement of some insider in the heist

In what was initially reported to be a robbery of ₹15 lakh and jewellery from the house of a renowned doctor couple in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, turned out to be a multi-crore heist with the police recovering a whopping ₹3.51 crore from four robbers after their arrest on Tuesday.

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Along with cash, jewellery worth ₹22 lakh was also recovered from the accused. The police also suspect involvement of some insider in the heist.

The accused were arrested from Amritsar, where they had rented a room in a hotel. The police also seized crucial evidence from the crime scene, including a .12 bore country-made pistol, a Maruti SX-4 sedan car and a Hyundai i20 car.

The arrested accused have been identified as Guriwnder Singh Sonu, 39, of Sua Road of Thareeke, Pavneet Singh Shalu, 42, of Phase-2 of Durgi, Jagpreet Singh, 22, and Sahildeep Singh, 21, both residents of Tarn Taran.

The victims, Dr Harkamal Bagga and her husband Dr Wahigurupal Singh Sidhu, are authorised by four countries, including England, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada, to conduct medical examinations for immigrants.

Dr Harkamal recorded a statement with a police stating that on September 14 around 8:45 pm, she came home, while her husband was already present.

According to Dr Harkamal, the watchman, Shingara Singh, opened the gate for her. However, just 15 minutes later, four masked men forcefully entered the house by scaling the boundary wall. They brandished a gun, held them captive, and tied up Dr

Wahigurupal, and the watchman using an adhesive tape.

The accused then led Dr Harkamal to the storeroom, from where the suspects looted the cash and gold jewellery.

Commissioner of police, Mandeep Singh Sidhu, stated that the victims initially claimed a robbery of ₹15 lakh and gold jewellery worth the same amount. However, the police swiftly solved the case and arrested all four accused within 96 hours of being informed.

Sidhu said that the police have recovered ₹3.51 crore from the accused, indicating that the victims may have intentionally underreported the actual amount due to fear of the income tax department. The accused were also unaware about the amount. After making the recovery, the police counted the cash and found that it amounts to ₹3.51 crore in cash.

The commissioner of police shared that two of the accused, Gurwinder and Pavneet, fled to Amritsar after the robbery and stayed in a hotel. The other two suspects returned to their homes.

“We suspect that there may be more cash to uncover. Furthermore, we are also investigating the involvement of an insider who had information about the victims, including the availability of cash,” added Sidhu.

“Gurwinder, one of the accused, has four cases of cheating and forgery registered against him, while Pavneet has three cases of snatching and theft,” he added.

In a surprising twist, the offenders took the victims’ Maruti SX-4 car to transport the stolen cash. As they discovered that the cash exceeded their expectations, they required another vehicle to carry the additional amount. They abandoned the victims’ car near Giaspura and arranged for a different car to escape.

It is the second highest robbery in the city in this year. On June 10, robbers had looted ₹8.49 crore from the office of CMS, a cash management company on June 10. The police had arrested a total of 18 accused in the case and had recovered ₹7.14 crore from their possession.

Cash reward for team

In recognition of the excellent teamwork displayed, commissioner of police Sidhu said that the director general of police Gaurav Yadav announced a cash reward of ₹5 lakh, along with DGP discs, for the team involved in solving the case. The team comprises deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Jaskiranjit Singh Teja, additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP, city 2) Suhail Qassim Mir, assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Guriqbal Singh, inspector Madhu Bala SHO at Dugri Police Station and inspector Kulwant Singh, in-Charge CIA-1.