Amritsar: Protest erupts after police nab Liberty Market shopkeeper
Amritsar, December 13
Shopkeepers of Liberty Market on the railway link road staged a protest ahead of Bhandari bridge leading to a massive traffic jam here on Wednesday. As a result, commuters were greatly inconvenienced as they remained stuck in the jam.
The agitation was held after the Civil Lines police arrested a shopkeeper from Liberty Market here on the charge of procuring snatched mobile phones. He was identified as Sandeep Dhawan, a resident of Pawan Nagar, Batala Road, here.
Following his arrest, the police confiscated 21 mobile phones from his shop. He failed to produce any documents regarding these phones.
Taking a serious view of the protest and harassment to commuters, the police asked the shopkeepers to lift the dharna and informed them about the involvement of the shopkeeper. The dharna was lifted and the shopkeepers tendered an apology before the police for staging the protest.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (North) Varinder Singh Khosa said the Civil Lines police had on Tuesday arrested a snatcher, Harmandeep Singh, of Escort Avenue at Verka and recovered snatched mobile phones from his possession. His arrest helped the police solve three separate instances of snatching in different parts of the city. The police also recovered the sharp-edged weapon and scooter used in the crime. He said Harmandeep was a drug addict.
The ACP said Manish Sharma of Ishwar Nagar told the police that he had gone to pick his daughter from near the Police Lines on Monday. He said he was answering a phone call when a youth came and snatched his phone by brandishing a sharp-edged weapon. The incident was captured on CCTV cameras. Following investigations, the police identified the snatcher as Harmandeep Singh and arrested him. His interrogation revealed that earlier he had robbed Sunita Sharma and Harpal Kaur in two separate incidents. Following his disclosure, the police registered two fresh FIRs against him.
He told the police that he used to sell mobile phones to Sandeep Dhawan for Rs 3,500. Dhawan would make technical changes in the mobile phones and sell them at hefty rates.
Khosa said the accused was produced in a court and brought on police remand for further investigations.
