3 women arrested in Rs 40,000 theft case at Punjab National Bank’s Mehatpur branch

Jalandhar, September 1

In a major breakthrough, the Jalandhar Rural police have arrested four persons, including three women, for their alleged involvement in a Rs40,000 theft case at Punjab National Bank’s Mehatpur branch. The operation was part of a special campaign against narcotics trafficking.

The accused have been identified as Ananya and Saloni of MP, Bhavna of Rajasthan and Devinder Sharma of Ludhiana district.

SSP Harkamal Preet Singh Khakh emphasised that special police teams had been deployed across all sub-divisions in Jalandhar Rural to effectively combat crime. The arrests followed a complaint lodged on August 27 by an elderly woman Jasbir Kaur, who reported that Rs 40,000 was stolen from her by a woman on the bank premises. The suspect then fled in an autorickshaw.

Acting swiftly on the complaint, the police team led by SHO, Mehatpur Police Station, Inspector Jaipal, under the supervision of Onkar Singh Brar, utilised CCTV footages from the bank and surrounding areas to trace the movements of the suspects. The police were able to follow the trail of the auto-rickshaw, leading them to the accused.

The case was registered on August 31. The use of modern tracing methods, combined with the CCTV evidence, was instrumental in identifying and apprehending the culprits.

During investigation, it was revealed that two accused had prior criminal records. Bhavna has three theft cases registered against her in two different districts, while Ananya has one theft case in Ludhiana.

The police have also seized the autorickshaw used in the crime. The accused were produced before the court and further investigation is underway to unearth any potential links to other crimes in the region.