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Mohali man headed to Karnal boards shared cab, robbed of ₹1.6 lakh
Threatened at knifepoint by four; second case in Dera Bassi, Mohali, with similar modus operandi in just nine days
In the second such incident in Dera Bassi in just nine days, four men robbed a Dhakoli resident of ₹1.64 lakh, besides his mobile phone and documents, after offering him a ride in a shared cab near Dandrala village on Thursday morning.
Though police have not added the robbery section in the FIR, booking the accused for snatching and criminal intimidation, the victim, Narendra Kumar, 43, claimed that he was threatened to hand over his cash and belongings at knifepoint.
The victim works as the area manager for a private company in Hoshiarpur.
He told police that on Thursday, he reached the Singhpura-Zirakpur bus stand around 6.30 am to catch a bus for Karnal. He was carrying ₹1.4 lakh cash in a bag.
Meanwhile, a Volkswagen Vento, bearing the registration number PB04-AD-8435, stopped near him and the driver offered him a cheaper ride to Karnal, claiming that he was running a shared cab.
Other than the driver, three men were already sitting in the back seat of the vehicle. Therefore, he took the front seat next to the driver.
After crossing Dera Bassi, the driver veered the car towards Haripur Kuran village. When he questioned him about the change in route, the driver claimed he wanted to avoid paying the toll fee.
But as they reached Dandrala village, the driver stopped the car and the three men in the back seat restrained him.
Putting a coconut-cutting knife against his neck, they assaulted him and snatched his bag containing cash, important documents and a mobile phone.
They further forced him to take out cash from a nearby ATM kiosk. But as he was not carrying a debit card, they told him to transfer ₹24,000 via Google Pay app to an account.
After securing the money, the robbers threatened him of dire consequences if he revealed the crime to anyone and threw him out of the car near Bhushan Factory in Haripur Kuran village, before driving off towards Ambala.
According to police, the cab driver was named Gopi and was addressed another accused as Deepi.
Dera Bassi police have registered a case under Sections 379-B (snatching after preparation made for causing death) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.
Earlier on November 7, in a case with a similar modus operandi, three men had robbed a Hisar resident of ₹27,800, mobile phone and documents, also in a cab, near Haripur Kuran village in Dera Bassi.
The victim, Bhanu of Haryana, had visited Mohali for his bank training. While returning, he boarded a shared cab near Singhpura-Zirakpur bus stand around 9.25 pm. Two men were already sitting inside the vehicle and another man joined later.
When the car reached near Dera Bassi, the driver turned the vehicle towards Bhushan factory, Haripur Kuran village, where the three men forcibly took him to an ATM and made him withdraw ₹26,000 from his debit card. They also took ₹1,800 cash that he was already carrying, before fleeing in the car. A case under Sections 379-B, 506 and 34 of the IPC was registered by the Dera Bassi police back then. But the case remains unsolved.
“We have got some leads and will nab the accused soon. Though the modus operandi is same, so far we are not sure whether a gang is operational in the area. We are probing both cases from all angles, and are using technical and human intelligence to catch the culprits,” a police officer said.
