SUV robbed from Amritsar dealership; recovered after encounter two hrs later

The encounter took place 2 hours after the vehicle was looted at gunpoint on Saturday.

It was a day of high drama as a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV), an Innova Crysta, robbed at gunpoint from a dealership in Daburji village, around 8km from the city, was recovered two hours later from Batala in Gurdaspur district, after a police encounter.

Police investigating the incident at the crime spot. (Sameer Sehgal/HT)

Police have also arrested one of the two robbers, Jotbir Singh, 23, of Jandiala Guru. His accomplice Gursewak Singh, 24, of Tarn Taran, is absconding. A pistol and two mobiles have been recovered from Jotbir.

A Batala DSP, Varinderpreet Singh, received minor injuries in his arm, while he gave chase to the robbed SUV. No one received gunshot injuries, though eight bullets were fired in the encounter. It all started about 11am when the two miscreants snatched the SUV at gunpoint outside the Castle Toyota showroom. “The staff were unloading SUVs. Two men, on foot, put a gun to my head and fled with one of the SUVs,” said Vinodh Kumar, the delivery in-charge of the company.

Crime caught on CCTV

“An alert was sounded in Amritsar and neighbouring districts,” said Amritsar DCP Amrik Singh Powar.

Batala SP Vipin Choudhary said, “As soon as we heard of the robbery, DSP Varinderpreet led a team that laid a naka at Bode Ki Khui. Soon, they saw the SUV approaching the naka from the Amritsar side. The robbers reversed and sped away. A chase ensued in which the DSP’s police car and the SUV collided.”

The chase turned into an encounter near Bode Ki Khui. “No one received any gunshot injury, even as eight bullets were fired in total. We nabbed one of the robbers, the other escaped,” said DSP Varinderpreet. SSP Opinderjit Singh said police teams had launched a hunt for the absconding accused.