Gang of knife-wielding robbers busted, 6 held

Ludhiana: The police on Friday busted a gang of robbers, with the arrest of six of its members. The goons would enter houses on the pretext of inviting families for a function. With their arrest, police claimed to have solved 20 cases, including those of vehicle lifting, snatching and robberies.
Gang kingpin Bhupinder Singh, 39, of Model Town; his associates Gurbhej Singh, 27, of Manohar Nagar, Dhoori Line; Deepak Sharma, 36, also of Dhoori Line; Jodha Singh, 29, of Shimlapuri; Maninder Singh, 23, of Dashmesh Nagar; and Deepak Kapoor, 35, of Gill Road were arrested from Lodhi Club Road while they were planing another robbery.

The police have recovered a Maruti Suzuki Zen car, six scooters, 450-gram gold, a LED TV set, four motorcycles, Rs 20,000, 10 fake registration number plates, three sharp-edged weapons and an iron road from their possession.

Additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP-2) Jaskiranjit Singh said, “Of the 20 cases the gang was involved in, 10 were of vehicle lifting. The vehicles were lifted from Sarabha Nagar, Model Town, Atam Nagar and Ghumar Mandi. The robbers had been active in the city for the past four months.”

About their modus operandi, the ADCP said, “After conducting a reconnaissance, the gang would target those houses where men left for work early in the day. Holding a sweet box, two of its members would ring door bell. Introducing themselves as friends of their husbands, they would invite women to a function. On being asked in, two more of their associates would barge in, hold the women and children captive at knife-point and escape with cash and jewellery. Till the four executed the robbery, the other two gang members would stand guard at a distance.”

Last year, Bhupinder met Deepak and the two decided to form a gang. Bhupinder is facing trial in a March 2018 theft case.

The gang would sell the stolen jewellery to a jeweller in UP. They would fix fake registration number plates on lifted vehicles and forge their documents to resell those, said assistant commissioner of police (ACP-south) Jashandeep Singh.

Heists they pulled off

February 12: A woman robbed of gold jewellery in division 6

January 4: A Salem Tabri family robbed of gold at knife-point