E-Paper
2 snatchers flee with elderly man’s bag having Rs 4.8 lakh in Ludhiana, fourth such incident in past 10 days
The incident took place outside the Punjab National Bank branch on Gill Road when Sunil Kumar Malhotra came out after withdrawing cash.
Within 24 hours of the Rs 10-lakh robbery on Ferozepur Road, another similar case of theft shocked the town where an elderly man lost his bag containing Rs 4.8 lakh cash to two snatchers in broad daylight on Wednesday.
The fourth such incident in the past 10 days took place outside the Punjab National Bank branch on Gill Road at 11.45 am when Sunil Kumar Malhotra, 58, of Shimlapuri, came out after withdrawing cash.
“I had kept the bag containing cash at the foot space of my non-geared scooter. Soon after, two bike-borne men came, snatched my bag and fled away,” Malhotra told the police.
ASI Balbir Singh, in-charge, Miller Ganj police post, said the incident has been captured in the CCTV camera installed outside the bank.
“We have registered an FIR under Section 379-B (snatching) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the unidentified miscreants and initiated investigation. The accused had fled towards the Gill Chowk. We have launched a manhunt and the accused will be nabbed soon,” he added.
No respite from theft, robberies
On October 5, few armed robbers had escaped with ₹6 lakh after threatening a 85-year-old woman with a gun in Shimlapuri. Three days before this incident, two men posing as cops had robbed a hosiery trader of ₹57,000 in Mochpura Bazar. On September 29, police imposters had stolen ₹5.3 lakh from two hosiery traders, and on September 7, a mason and his family were robbed of ₹1.5 lakh and jewellery at gunpoint in Dugri.
Official take
Police commissioner Sukhchain Singh Gill said he has ordered police officials, including ADCPs and SHOs, to install check points in the city. “We have zeroed in on few suspects and are trying to trace them,” he added.
