The police here have arrested 7 people involved in various car-snatching and armed robbery cases in different parts of the state. Four pistols and a knife, Rs 82,000 and an Indica car were seized from the accused. The accused, belonging to different towns, had got in contact with each other in jails.
The police claimed that a week ago, four members of this gang had snatched a car at gunpoint from Sherpur and then, with the help of the snatched car, had looted Rs 2.49 lakh from a petrol pump in Barnala.
Inspector general of police (IGP-zonal I) Paramjit Singh Gill said that on May 30 and 31, members of the gang had also snatched a Honda City car from Tanda, and then looted Rs 54,000 from Western Union office in Jalandhar, Rs 4,200 from a petrol pump in Nakodar and Rs 2.5 lakh from Western Union, Bhogpur (Jalandhar).
Explaining the modus operandi of the gang, Gill said the accused used to snatch a car and then commit a robbery at gunpoint and would later abandon the car somewhere.
Charanjit Singh Channi and Sukhchain Singh Fundu of Barnala, Sahibjit Singh of Sidhuwal (Patiala), Harpreet Singh alias Popy and Lacchman Singh alias Rajwinder of Bolina Doaba (Jalandhar), Gurjinder Singh alias Raju of Khuian Server, Sat Pal alias Satta of Nangli (Amritsar), all aged between 25 to 40, were arrested while one of their accomplices, Bahadur Singh of Bursat (Patiala), is still at large.
{{/usCountry}}Charanjit Singh Channi and Sukhchain Singh Fundu of Barnala, Sahibjit Singh of Sidhuwal (Patiala), Harpreet Singh alias Popy and Lacchman Singh alias Rajwinder of Bolina Doaba (Jalandhar), Gurjinder Singh alias Raju of Khuian Server, Sat Pal alias Satta of Nangli (Amritsar), all aged between 25 to 40, were arrested while one of their accomplices, Bahadur Singh of Bursat (Patiala), is still at large.
{{/usCountry}}While two of the accused, Charanjit Singh and Sukhchain, were arrested from Barnala, others were arrested from Patiala, Abohar, Bathinda and Shambhu border, said Opinderjit Singh Ghuman, senior superintendent of police.
Sahibjit Singh, who is the kingpin of the gang according to the police, admitted that he was in possession of an illegal pistol which he had purchased from Uttar Pradesh for self-protection. He, however, denied his involvement in any illegal activity. He said he had given the pistol to one of the accused on his request.
Sahibjit's brother Baljit Singh said, "About 30-35 people in civil and police dress entered our home on the night of June 12-13 at around 1.00 am by climbing a wall. They took Sahibjit and his motorcycle with them. They came without a warrant and did not tell where they were taking Sahibjit to and why."