Gurdaspur: A major robbery was reported here on Thursday morning after a group of at least five men, allegedly dressed in Nihang’s attire, looted cash and gold worth crores of rupees from the house of a jeweller on Jail Road.According to police reports, the robbers reached the residence around 8 am when the family’s driver was cleaning the vehicles. The men spoke to him briefly, and when he went inside to call the owners, all of them forced their way into the house.
Inside, one of the robbers held a pistol to the head of the jeweller’s wife, and the family was taken hostage. According to sources, the intruders claimed that they acted over an alleged objectionable social media post about their Gurus.According to police sources, the robbers then confined the family members in separate rooms — locking the driver in one room, the jeweller’s wife and her two children in another, and the jeweller in a third. They seized all the house keys and threatened to kill the children if anyone resisted.The gang later escaped with the gold jewellery and cash, and also removed the CCTV DVR before fleeing in the family’s vehicle.Superintendent of police (SP, investigations) Devinder Kumar said the police reached the spot as soon as they received the information, while confirming that the suspects were in Nihang’s attire. He said the accused took the jewellery and then fled in the jeweller’s vehicle.Police was in the process of procuring the CCTV footage from the surrounding area for examination and launched a manhunt for the culprits. The SP stated that police got leads and was working on the same to nab the suspects.Reacting to the burglary, national president of the Akhil Bharatiya Swarnkar Sangh, Kashmir Singh Rajput, said the risk of burglaries and attacks on gold jewellers has increased significantly, especially after the recent surge in gold prices.Announcing that the Sangh would take up the issue at all levels with both the Punjab govt and the central govt, Rajput said he would convene a meeting to demand exemplary punishment for the culprits.“With the current scenario, it appears that these criminals are not afraid of the law. In many cases, even after they are arrested, they secure bail and later issue fresh threats to the victims,” he said while urging authorities to deal with such elements with an iron hand. MSID:: 129089029 413 |
