Punjab Police on Friday claimed to have successfully solved the Dera Baba Jagatar Singh robbery case within a fortnight with the arrest of all the six suspects and recovery of the entire stolen cash of Rs 1.66 crore.
While Rs 1.13 crore was recovered by the Tarn Taran police, the remaining Rs 53 lakh was seized by the Amritsar police, disclosed the state Director General of Police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta on Friday while congratulating Tarn Taran SSP Dhruv Dahia and his team, along with Amritsar Police Commissionerate, for their outstanding work in cracking the case in such a short time.
“Extensive research, intelligence inputs, and technical analysis has worked together to help the police solve the case so quickly,” he added.
The accused have been identified as Sukhwinder Singh alias Baba Bhondi, Tarsem Singh alias Grota, Balwinder Singh alias Billa, Sukhchain Singh alias Chaina (all residents of Khurmanian village in Amritsar district), along with Satnam Singh alias Satta and Ravi (both residents of Sangha village, Sadar police station Tarn Taran).
After the robbery on the night of February 24, the police had registered an FIR under sections 379 B, 342, 459, 506, 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Police Station City Tarn Taran, against unknown persons based on the statement of Baba Mohinder Singh. Another section, 395 (dacoity) of IPC, was added in the FIR on March 1, 2020.
Based on the analysis of the CCTV footage, the police accurately identified the accused, who escaped towards Amritsar. While Sukhchain Singh was arrested on February 28, Satnam Singh was nabbed the next day.
Investigations revealed that they had planned and masterminded the entire robbery, as Satnam Singh used to work as a driver in Dera of Baba Jagtar Singh, located near Guru Nanak Multispecialty Hospital in Tarn Taran. Satnam had detailed knowledge of the location of the cash, as well as the locations of various personnel at the Dera during the night.
Satnam contacted Sukhchain for planning and putting a team in place for execution of the robbery, since he knew Sukhchain to have a strong criminal background. Sukhchain, who had recently come out of Amritsar Jail, then roped in the other accused, said the DGP. Barring Sukhchain, all other five accused came to the Dera in a Swift car on the night of the robbery. Two of them had stayed in the car.
Further, during investigation, it became clear that no weapon had been used to commit the robbery. The Swift car which was used during robbery was recovered from Balwinder Singh.
According to the DGP, the Tarn Taran Police recovered Rs 12 lakhs of the stolen cash from the house of Sukhchain Singh and around Rs 5.65 lakhs from the house of Satnam Singh. Based on further questioning of Sukhchain Singh, around Rs 95.5 lakhs of stolen cash was recovered on March 5 by a team led by DSP/Crime against Property, Tarn Taran.
The accused Sukhchain had confessed that he had converted the stolen cash into US Dollars from a shop named Sethi Money Exchanger, near Railway station, Amritsar, and deposited the converted 1.30 lakh US Dollars and remaining Rs 4.5 lakhs stolen cash in a locker in Punjab and Sindh Bank, Tarn Taran road, Amritsar. Subsequently, the total amount was recovered from the bank on March 5. Further investigations into the case are being conducted, said the DGP.
