Ludhiana: A botched mobile-phone snatching has spiralled into a violent revenge attack two months later, leaving a shopkeeper’s family terrorised and his property ransacked by a masked mob.Police in Sahnewal have on Tuesday booked more than a dozen people following the March 22 street-level confrontation in Ludhiana’s Jugiana village, which victims say was a direct reprisal for a man’s arrest made earlier this year. They say thebsuspected thief returned with a group to attack the shopkeeper who had originally caught him.According to the complainant, Nisar Ali, he and several neighbours had apprehended a man named Manga of Giaspura village after he had allegedly snatched a mobile phone from Ali’s brother-in-law. At the time, the crowd thrashed the suspect before releasing him. Even though Ali claims he reported the incident to the police when it happened, no formal case was registered, leaving the suspect free to plot his retaliation.The situation turned bloody when Manga allegedly returned to Ali’s home-based grocery shop with an associate, Sonu Pal, and 10 masked accomplices. Armed with both blunt and sharp-edged weapons, the group stormed the premises, manhandling Ali and assaulting his 13-year-old nephew and a tenant.The mob did not stop at physical assault; they ransacked the shop and home, smashed Ali’s motorcycle, and damaged a neighbor’s pickup van parked in the street. Before fleeing the scene, the attackers reportedly stole Rs 20,000 in cash from the shop’s till.Sahnewal police have now lodged an FIR (first-information report) following an initial inquiry into the delay. Investigating officer ASI Gurmeet Singh confirmed that the suspects face multiple charges under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including house trespass, criminal intimidation, and unlawful assembly. While the attackers were masked, police have identified the two primary suspects and say arrests are imminent.
