Naik among 5 held for bid to kill cabbie

Tribune News Service

Mohali, June 13

The local police have arrested five persons, allegedly members of the Sampat Nehra gang, for illegally confining and attempting to kill a cab driver in Sector 71 here on Monday. One of the accused is a Naik in the Army. Three pistols and two cars, including an i20, used in the crime have also been recovered from the accused.

The accused have been identified as Ramandeep Singh, alias Bhau, of Ferozepur, Shubhnavdeep Singh, alias Shubh, of Amritsar, Jaspreet Singh, alias Jassu, and Gurvinder Singh, alias Guri, both of Ambala, and Dinesh Kumar of Churu, Rajasthan, who is posted as a Naik in Jaipur. Two .315 bore pistols, 10 live cartridges, one .32 bore pistol with six live cartridges and a sword have also been recovered from them.

A 25-year-old cab driver, Varinder Kumar, was on his motorcycle when he was hit by a car on Monday. He got unconscious and woke up in a farmhouse where he was attacked with a sharp weapon. However, the CIA staff of the Mohali police reached the spot, rescued the victim and rushed him to the Civil Hospital in Phase 6.

According to the victim, originally from Muktsar, a few months ago, he received a call from an unidentified person, who warned him that he should stop contacting a Hoshiarpur-based girl and argued with him. The police have also confirmed this to be the motive behind the crime.

The accused have admitted to being involved in the carjacking incident in Panchkula on Sunday. A Verna car was taken away at gunpoint in Sector 21 from Baltana resident Ravinder Sharma. The car has also been recovered. They also admitted to snatching Rs 60,000 at gunpoint on Monday from a petrol pump at Saneta village. The accused claimed they were now planning to kidnap a man from Sector 7, Panchkula.

‘Will seek production warrants of Nehra’

SSP Kuldeep Chahal said they would seek production warrants of Sampat Nehra. “Once his police remand ends in Panchkula, we will seek his warrants”. He said Naik Dinesh Kumar was known to Nehra as they both belonged to the same village in Churu district of Rajasthan.

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