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Suspended jail warder held for theft at two deputy commissioners’ houses in Chandigarh
The accused came to know that he had targeted the houses of IAS officers only after reading the newspaper, said Chandigarh Police
Addicted to drugs, a suspended warder of the Faridabad jail has been arrested for the recent burglaries at the houses of Patiala and Tarn Taran deputy commissioners (DC) in Chandigarh’s Sector 7, said police.
The accused, identified as Jaswinder Singh Brar, 42, hails from Hisar, Haryana.
He had first struck at the Sector-7 house of Patiala DC Sakshi Sawhney. On June 28, a Punjab Police constable had reported that ₹2 lakh in cash, two pairs of gold earrings, a gold chain, a diamond earrings set and a bracelet set were stolen from Sawhney’s house.
Then on July 24, Dr Mrinalini C Kumar, wife of Tarn Taran DC Moneesh Kumar, had reported theft of gold and diamond jewellery worth lakhs from their house in Sector 7.
The accused had struck while the couple was away at Hyderabad from July 19 to 24.
He was arrested by a police team near the Bapu Dham Colony light point in Sector 26 while travelling in a grey Hyundai Verna, bearing a Haryana registration number.
Police said the arrest came with the help of technical surveillance and human intelligence.
After stealing jewellery from the two IAS officers’ houses, he tried to sell off the booty. But could not after the jeweller asked for bills. He had since hidden the jewellery in his car and at his house in Hisar.
Habitual offender, addicted to drugs
Police said Brar had studied till Class 12 and was married with one child. He is a habitual offender, who is facing 13 cases of burglaries in different districts of Haryana.
“The accused worked as jail warder in Faridabad and was suspended after being arrested for theft,” said Kuldeep Singh Chahal, senior superintendent of police (SSP), Chandigarh.
He was lodged at the Hisar jail and released on May 13 this year. Chahal said the accused was addicted to drugs and turned to crime to fulfil his addiction.
“The accused would move around in his personal vehicle to conduct a recee of houses where newspapers were lying scattered near the gate,” said the police. After establishing that the house was vacant, he would break into it, mostly during wee hours.
Notably, he came to know that he had targeted the houses of IAS officers only after reading the newspaper.
While all articles stolen from Kumar’s house have been recovered with Brar’s arrest, police have yet to find those stolen from Sawhney’s house. The accused during preliminary questioning also confessed to have stolen watches and ornaments from Panchkula.
He was produced before a court on Friday and sent to judicial custody. The police will now seek his production warrants to question him and recover the stolen items in other cases.
