Ludhiana: The Division 3 police have arrested an accused in the case in which four miscreants, impersonating as excise and taxation officers, had escaped with a truck loaded with iron rods worth Rs 11 lakh from Samrala Chowk on March 28. The police have also made full recovery in the case, but three accused are yet to be arrested.
Ranjit Singh of Amritsar was nabbed from Goraya in Jalandhar when he was looking for a scrap dealer to sell the iron rods.
The investigating officer said the mobile phone of truck driver Amar Singh was inside the vehicle which helped the police trace the accused, who had driven up to Goraya.
Among the three accomplices of Ranjit is the one who was in police uniform. After his arrest, the police will be able to know from where he procured the uniform. The official said one of the absconding accused has a criminal background as a dacoity case was registered against him in Amritsar.
On March 28, posing as excise and taxation officers, four miscreants had robbed Amar of the truck loaded with iron rods. Businessman Ambrish Kumar of Khanna said he had to send iron rods to Bahadurke area of Ludhiana city and approached a transporter, whose driver, Amar, took the truck to Ludhiana late on March 27 night. In the morning, the transporter told him that some miscreants, posing as excise and taxation department officers, escaped with the truck. Following this, he immediately informed the police.
Driver Amar said the accused asked him to produce bill and other documents. After checking the papers, they claimed that the bill was under-valued and asked the driver to accompany them to the office, while Ranjit escaped with the truck. After they dropped Amar back to the spot, he borrowed a phone from a commuter and informed the transporter. His phone was inside the truck, which was missing.
The police said the accused had come to Transport Nagar to rob a truck, but found none. While returning, they found their target near Samrala Chowk.