On Tuesday, the Patiala Police cracked the UCO Bank robbery case at Ghanaur and arrested four persons for looting Rs 17.85 lakhs from the bank. Interestingly, a local Congress leader who is the village sarpanch of Hafizabad in Ropar district’s Chamkaur Sahib subdivision is one of the four people who have been detained.
According to the reports, the district police recovered the vehicle which was used by the accused while executing the crime. The police also recovered a 12-bore rifle, two cartridges, and Rs. 17.85 lakh that had been stolen from the bank by the accused.
The accused persons have been identified as Amandeep Singh (35), a Congress leader and sarpanch of village Hafizbad in Chamkaur Sahib constituency, Dilpreet Singh alias Bhana, Prabhdial Singh, and Narinder Singh. The Police said that the Congress leader was the mastermind of the Ghanaur bank robbery that happened on Monday. All the accused are from the Ropar district.
According to cops, the congress leader covered with his face with a cloth mask and entered the bank first at around 3:35 pm on Monday. He asked about the cash deposit time and then left. However, he returned two minutes later along with his two armed accomplices and looted the cash from the cashier.
They locked the bank staff members in the cabin and snatched a bike from one of the customers and then fled from the spot. They later abandoned the bike and sat in their car which the fourth accused had got to help them escape. “The police arrested the accused in less than 24 hours and recovered the entire amount which was looted from the bank. After the incident, the police had sealed the entire exit points of the district and managed to arrest the accused with their arms, ammunition, looted money, and car in which they were fleeing”, said SSP Varun Sharma.
Sharma further confirmed that one of the accused is a local Congress leader. He added that Amandeep has previously been charged with looting, murder, and dacoity in seven separate incidents. “He is also an accused in the case of the November 10 theft of 5 lakh rupees from the SBI Bank in Khamnoo, Fatehgarh Sahib district. He is also charged with robbing the Morinda post office head,” Sharma stated.
Reportedly, the police will hold the suspect in custody and question them further since the accused might have committed additional similar crimes of this nature in the past. “The police will also probe why they selected the Ghanaur Bank, as it is almost 100 km away from their residences, and whether they had some local support. The accused even took away the CCTV video recorder with them to conceal their crime,” the SSP was quoted.
The incident happened on Monday at around 3:40 pm. The accused executed the crime and fled from the spot within 10 minutes. The police have arrested four accused in the case. Further investigations into the case are underway.