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‘Donkey gang’ behind over 100 snatching, robbery cases in Ludhiana, say police
Took to crime to satisfy their need of drugs; threatened victims with guns and knives; sent to five-day police remand.
The gang of robbers busted on Monday evening is involved in over 100 cases of armed robbery and snatching in and around Ludhiana, the police said on Wednesday.
Infamous as “donkey gang”, the seven accused were produced before a court on Wednesday and sent to five-day police remand.
They were nabbed from Transport Nagar while planning another robbery on Monday evening.
Those arrested are Lovedeep Singh, alias Deepu, of Jhabewal Road, Bhamia; Gagandeep Singh of Guru Angad Dev Nagar, Faridkot; Deepak Kumar of Shimlapuri; Kulwinder Singh of Gaunsgarh village; Amanjot Singh, alias Aman Donkey, of Bulara village; Shiv Kumar, alias Shibbu, of Bhamia Kalan; and Vikram Singh, alias Vicky, of Jamalpur area.
Besides six motorcycles, a scooter and seven mobile phones, the police had recovered a pistol, an air gun, four blunt weapons and a dummy pistol from them.
Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, commissioner of police Rakesh Agrawal said with these arrests, crime will reduce in Ludhiana. “Aman Donkey is the gang’s kingpin. They used to rob people by brandishing pistols, knives and iron rods. They also targeted migrant workers returning from factories and were most active in streets around Nagesh Factory, Bahadurke Road, Jassian Road, Dana Mandi, Shimlapuri, Daba area, Gill Road and Moti Nagar area,” he added.
Out of the seven gang members, six are habitual offenders and have been in and out of jail many times in various crime cases.
Lately, they had been targeting grocery stores, prompting their owners to approach the police for relief to save their businesses.
Besides, the gang often indulged in violent clashes with the rival Chinka gang, whose members are already behind bars.
During interrogation, the accused confessed to being drug addicts and committing crime to buy drugs.
The police are investigating what the accused did with the stolen cash and other articles.
CASES CRACKED WITH ARREST
In October, they had robbed a grocery store owner of Rs 20,000 at gunpoint near Atam Hosiery in Guru Nanak Nagar. They had also snatched Rs 90,000 and Rs 6,900 from two other grocers on Tajpur Road and in Shahbana village, respectively.
Earlier, in September, they snatched Rs 1.5 lakh from a man at gunpoint at Quality Chowk in Shamlapuri and also looted Rs 3,000 at knifepoint from a migrant worker near Nirmal Palace.
Similarly, in August, they had robbed a man of Rs 4.43 lakh after opening fire, and snatched mobile phones from migrant workers after attacking them with sharp-edged weapons near Nagesh Hosiery and Bahadurke Road in two separate incidents.
