Muktsar, May 31
The district police today claimed to have solved the Gidderbaha bank robbery of Rs 49 lakh after arresting the three remaining accused, including the kingpin, and recovering Rs 11.28 lakh of the looted amount, a prohibited .455 bore revolver, two live cartridges, a motorcycle and an iron trunk, which was used by bank officials to bring the cash.
The robbery took place outside the Gidderbaha branch of the State Bank of Patiala on May 22 wherein robbers escaped with Rs 49 lakh after firing two shots at the bank's cashier. The money was being brought from a Bathinda branch of the bank.
Earlier, four arrests were made by the police and Rs 33.5 lakh was recovered from their possession. Besides, the rifle of the bank's security guard, a country-made pistol, a revolver and a Santro car were recovered.
Addressing mediapersons at his office, Muktsar SSP Surjeet Singh said, "Of the Rs 49 lakh, nearly Rs 44.78 lakh have been recovered and all the seven accused, including three brothers and their cousin, all residents of Amritsar district, have been arrested. Two more persons, who were also involved in this as well as another robbery of Rs 3 lakh at Malout have been detained. The two accused had to be hospitalised as they had met with an accident while running away from the spot."
He said those arrested today were Nanak Singh, the kingpin, Kuldeep Singh and Gurdev Singh of Chak Kamal Khan village in Amritsar district.
The SSP said the credit for solving the robbery case almost within a week went to SP (H) Narinderpal Singh Sidhu, SP (D) Gurinderjit Singh, Gidderbaha DSP Darshan Singh and a team of SHOs and CIA staff.
About the recovery of a prohibited .455 bore revolver, SSP Surjeet Singh said, "It is yet to be ascertained whether the robbers stole it from a cop or someone else was also a part of their gang."
The SSP said though involvement of any bank official did not surface so far, the possibility of their participation in the crime could not be ruled out. " We will recover the remaining Rs 4.22 lakh soon," he added.
Before committing the crime, the robbers stayed in a rented accommodation at Gidderbaha on the pretext that they had come for cattle trade. "They even made a shed in the house to befool the house owners and neighbours," said SSP Surjeet Singh. Two of the robbers even stayed at Hotel Alaska in Malout by pretending that they had met with a road accident and their relatives were coming. "They stayed there on May 20 and 21 before escaping without paying for food and boarding," said the SSP.
"A bullet was recovered from the spot, which proved as a vital clue in nabbing all the robbers," said the police.
However, sources said the robbers had a dispute while dividing the looted cash among them and one of them narrated the story to the police.
The Santro car, which was used in the crime, bore a fake registration number (PB 30 J 8979). It was stolen from Partap Nagar in Amritsar and was not registered with the District Transport Office, Muktsar, said police.
