Bathinda: Two armymen among 6 held for robbing hotelier

Superintendent of police (investigation) Narinder Singh said jawans Gurdeep Singh and Sunil Singh were posted in Srinagar and Jammu, respectively, and were arrested with their accomplices after a brief encounter near Bhucho area.

Two army jawans were among six persons arrested for “robbery and attempt to murder” in Bathinda on Friday afternoon. A stolen AK-47 rifle and 24 rounds of ammunition were seized from their possession, the police said.

Two army jawans were among six persons arrested for “robbery and attempt to murder” in Bathinda on Friday afternoon. A stolen AK-47 rifle and 24 rounds of ammunition were seized from their possession, the police said. (HT Photo)

Superintendent of police (investigation) Narinder Singh said jawans Gurdeep Singh and Sunil Singh were posted in Srinagar and Jammu, respectively, and were arrested with their accomplices after a brief encounter near Bhucho area. “Preliminary investigation shows that before proceeding on two-month leave, Sunil stole a service assault rifle and ammunition from his colleagues at his unit in Jammu. It was later handed over to Gurdeep and the jawans used the weapon to commit a robbery at a hotel in Bhucho on March 11,” he said.

Other accused have been identified as Satwant Singh and a dairy farmer, Arshdeep Singh, both belonging to Kotshamir village in Bathinda. Two others, who were held after an encounter, are Hargurn Singh, a student of M Pharma at Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Technical University, and Arshdeep Singh, a BSc student at Adesh University in Bathinda.

On March 11, masked armed men had robbed a hotelier of ₹8,000 and four mobile phones. Police authorities said a CCTV footage showed that one of the robbers was carrying a prohibited weapon. Teams were constituted to identify the culprits.

“A team of the crime investigation agency (CIA)-1 was following a lead and they spotted the culprits in a car. On seeing the police party, Satwant opened fire at the police vehicle using AK-47. In a retaliatory fire, Satwant suffered a bullet injury in his leg. He is stated to be out of danger,” said SP Narinder Singh.

He said the raiding team recovered an AK-47 and 24 rounds of ammunition.

“We are in touch with the army authorities for investigation. Initial investigation suggests Satwant had at least two cases under the Excise Act,” added the SP.