Patiala: The Patiala police on Friday claimed to have arrested three members of a robbery gang and recovered cash, gold and silver jewellery from their possession.The police also seized a car used by the robbers. The arrests followed a violent housebreaking in the Model Town area of Patiala.Varun Sharma, senior superintendent of police, Patiala, said the incident took place on the intervening night of April 3 and 4, when unidentified assailants forcibly entered the residence of Darshan Kumar near PUDA plots in Model Town and attacked an elderly couple, leaving them seriously injured, before fleeing with cash and jewellery.A case in this regard was registered on April 4 at Civil Lines police station under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Arms Act.Police teams under SP Palwinder Singh Cheema traced and arrested 35-year-old Sourav Chhabra, a property dealer from Dhuri, and his associates Guddu Kumar (20) and Vishal Kumar (20), both labourers from Ludhiana, from the Civil Lines area of Patiala on April 17, said the SSP.During the operation, the police recovered Rs 5 lakh in cash, about 80 grams of gold, 2 kg of silver jewellery and a Skoda car used in the crime, he said.Sharma further said Chhabra was the mastermind behind the robbery and, being familiar with the locality, had prior knowledge that the victims were elderly and lived alone. He conducted reconnaissance and conspired with his accomplices from Ludhiana to execute the crime.On the night of the incident, the trio used Chhabra’s vehicle to reach the house and carried out the robbery. When the victims woke up, they were assaulted by the accused before escaping with valuables, said the SSP.Preliminary interrogation indicated the involvement of the accused in earlier thefts in the Dhuri area, which were yet to be fully investigated, said the police.Police officials said in the case related to the housebreaking in the Model Town area, 100% recovery was made from the accused. However, further investigation is going on in the matter, and the police have sought custodial remand of the accused. The investigation continued to uncover additional links and crimes connected to the gang, the police added.MSID:: 130332202 413 |
