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Burglars sedate minister Ashu’s cousin, his family, decamp with cash, jewellery
The incident took place around 2am but the family discovered the theft the next morning. The burglars reportedly also took the cash that Kala and his son had kept in their pockets. However, the weapon possessed by the family is safe as burglars were unable to find it.
A gang of burglars struck at the house of Narinder Kumar Kala, the cousin of Punjab food, civil supplies and consumer affairs minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, and fled with cash, gold and other valuables after sedating the family members on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday.
The incident took place around 2am but the family discovered the theft the next morning. The burglars reportedly also took the cash that Kala and his son had kept in their pockets. However, the weapon possessed by the family is safe as burglars were unable to find it.
The family has a petdog but it did not bark, leading the police to suspect the burglars may have sedated the dog before entering the house on Sham Singh road.
Kala told the police that due to some health issues, he normally wakes up in the middle of the night at least a couple of times but on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, he didn’t wake up even once. Other family members also complained of minor headaches.
According to sources, the burglars have decamped with ₹4 lakh cash, 150gm gold jewelry and other valuables. There are no closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in the house but the footage from cameras in the neighbourhood showed some persons scaling the wall to enter and exit the house.
Kala lives with his wife, son and daughter-in-law in the house. They have employed a domestic help as well. Police are looking into the possible role of the domestic help.
The incident brought major embarrassment to the police as the house is merely 50 metres away from the office of the Ludhiana police commissioner. Police officials too were reluctant to share details about the incident.
Narinder Kumar Kala, who is himself a councillor from ward number 66 of Ludhiana, is yet to file a complaint. Sub-inspector Rajinderpal Singh, station house officer of Division number 8, said CCTVs caught some persons scaling the wall of the councillor’s house. “We are waiting for the family to provide details of the loss to lodge an FIR,” said the cop.
Mamta Ashu, councillor and wife of cabinet minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, said they came to know about the incident on Thursday morning when they received a call from Kala.
