2 gangs of snatchers, vehicle-lifters arrested

Ludhiana: The Ludhiana police have arrested two gangs of snatchers and vehicles lifters on Wednesday. In the first case, Haibowal police arrested three accused and recovered three motorcycles, two scooters, and six mobile phones from their possession. In another case, Division 8 police arrested three accused and recovered one autorickshaw, 16 motorcycles, and several master keys to steal two-wheelers.
Haibowal police arrested Bittu and Arun Kumar of Chand Colony in Rishi Nagar, and Ishtkhar of Choti Haibowal — all aged between 21 and 22 years. According to police, Kapil Kumar (the gang’s kingpin) is at large. Assistant commissioner of police (ACP-West) Sameer Verma said the accused were active for the past six months, and in this span of time, they executed 11 snatchings and 5 vehicle liftings. The accused used to roam around the city and snatch mobiles and purses of targets. Sometimes, they would threaten people with sharp-edged weapons and loot them. The accused were more active in Haibowal, Pakhowal Road, near Bus Stand, and Kailash Cinema chowk.
Jagatpuri police post in-charge ASI Kapil Kumar said the police had arrested the accused from near the railway crossing of Jassiya Road. The accused confessed that their friend Kapil, who was facing trials in several cases of thefts, involved them first in thefts. He used to give them Rs1,000 each, for every snatching and theft. Later, they started sharing the stolen stuff.
In the second case, Division 8 police arrested Amritpal Singh (47) of Ishar Nagar, Sanjeev Kumar (26) of Pavitar Nagar, and Basant Sahni (31) of Amrit Colony in Hambran Road. Sahni is a scrap dealer who used to dissemble stolen bikes to further sell its parts. The police have recovered 16 stolen bikes, one autorickshaw, and several keys of two-wheelers.
Assistant commissioner of police (ACP-Civil Lines) Mandeep Singh said the accused were active for the past nine months. They have confessed that in those nine months, they stole nearly 100 bikes and scooters. Accused Amritpal owns an auto which he would use sometimes to fetch passengers. However, usually the gang would roam around in the city in that auto. They had several masterkeys, and wherever they found bikes, they would use the key to open the lock and escape with the bike.
Ghumar Mandi police post in-charge ASI Jaskaran Singh said: “Basant Sahni is a scrap dealer. He used to dissemble bikes and scooters to further sell its parts. All accused are drug addicts and took to crime to meet their need for drugs. The accused were arrested from near Tagore Nagar, following a tip-off, when they were crossing the area in an auto.
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