Gangs of carjackers, robbers busted

The police have busted two gangs of criminals involved in incidents of carjacking and robbery in the district in the past one month. Both gangs used women as ‘bait’ to trap victims and to rob them of valuables.

The arrested gang members have been identified as Arshdeep Singh, Jaspal Singh and Gurpreet Singh, all from Bathinda; Vikram Singh of Chandipur, Sohana; Angadjot Singh of Sector 35, Chandigarh, and Shaima Khan alias Khusi of Barmulla in Kashmir.

The police recovered one jeep, one car, one countrymade pistol and another car used in the crime from them.

On November 3, Deepak Aggarwal of Mandi Gobindgarh and his female companion were stopped near traffic lights of Radha Soami dera at about 4 am by three-four unidentified persons who were in a Maruti car.

Aggarwal was mercilessly beaten up and his Thar vehicle and other belongings were snatched by the gang.

During the course of investigation, it was found that the gang was looking for unsuspecting drivers at night. They hit Aggarwal’s Thar from behind and intercepted him at a secluded place. When he stopped, they beat him up mercilessly and took away his vehicle and belongings.

The accused, including Arshdeep, Vikram, Jaspal, Angadjot and Shaima alias Khushi, have also admitted to snatching of an i20 car on October 26 in area under Sohana police station.

In another operation, police busted a gang of robbers, including a women, on November 1. Those arrested have been identified as Mukesh Kumar of Patiala, currently living in AKS Colony, Zirakpur, Gurjant Singh of Banur, Patiala; and Sandeep Kaur of Zira, Ferozepur.

One kirpan and Rs 1,200 have been recovered from them.

On the intervening night of October 27 and 28, Sandeep Kaur after taking lift from Ambala resident Sagar Heer took him to a deserted place. Mukesh Kumar and Gurjant, in a pre-planned conspiracy, came to the spot and forcibly entered Sagar Heer’s car. After threatening him, they forced him to make a payment of Rs 5,000 through PayTM and also took Rs 25,000 in cash from him.

Sandeep Kaur was used as a bait to lure young travellers in vehicles. The gullible victims used to fall in the trap and were then taken to a deserted place where her companions were already waiting. The co-conspirators would forcibly enter the vehicle and rob the victim after threatening him.