Two arrested for taking away taxi at gunpoint in Mohali

The police have arrested two youths for snatching a taxi at gunpoint from a cabbie near Sector 85-86 here in the wee hours of October 7.

The suspects — identified as Ranjit Singh (28), a resident of Bathinda and Satinderveer Singh (27), a resident of Gharuan village — had been booked under Section 304-B of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Arms Act at the Sohana police station.

No case had been registered against the accused before this.

They have been sent to four-day police remand.

CIA staff incharge Harminder Singh said the police had recovered the car, a mobile phone and a dummy pistol used in the incident.

Victim Vishal, a resident of Sector 49C, Chandigarh, stated that on October 7 morning, he got a ride from Sector 43 in Chandigarh to Sector 109, Mohali, through Indrive app.

He picked two passengers from the bus stand in Sector 43. When he reached Sector 85/86 Chowk in Mohali, one of the passengers asked him to stop the vehicle on a deserted road on the pretext of urinating. He came back and put a pistol to his ear and took the car key and mobile phone from him. The duo sped away with the vehicle.

Mohali SSP Deepak Pareek said the duo was arrested from Metro station near MG Road, Gurugram, on October 9.

During interrogation, the accused said they had known each other for a long time. They had planned to steal a taxi. On October 6, they stole a mobile phone from person who was sleeping in a vehicle with the window open in Sector 44. They then downloaded Indrive app on the mobile with a fake name of Upkar Sidhu.

From the app they booked a cab and made off with it after threatening the driver.