Dy manager, aide held for ₹45L bank robbery

Police recover stolen cash and licensed weapon from Kotak Mahindra branch deputy manager’s friend in Jalalabad

CHANDIGARH: The deputy manager of Kotak Mahindra’s Jalalabad branch, Gurpartap Singh, has been arrested along with his friend, Paramjit Singh, for robbing the bank of Rs 45 lakh on

May 12. Gurpartap, who was the complainant in the case, and Paramjit were arrested by the Fazilka police on Friday evening for staging the robbery, while their accomplice, Gurpreet Singh, is absconding.

Police recovered the cash and a licensed weapon from Paramjit, a resident of Prabhat Singh Wala near Jalalabad in Fazilka district.

In his complaint, Gurpartap had claimed that two unidentified motorcycle-borne thieves robbed him and his subordinate Luvpreet Singh at gunpoint on May 12.

He had said that the robbers targeted their car and threw chilli powder in their eyes before fleeing with a trunk containing the cash when they were taking it from the Muktsar branch to the bank’s Jalalabad branch.

Forensic experts find shots were fired at parked car

Forensic experts, however, raised doubts during investigation. Ferozepur range deputy inspector general of police (DIG) HS Mann said on Saturday that contrary to Gurpartap’s claim, it was found that the bullets were shot at the car when it was parked.

“The complainant stated that they had to stop the car after the accused shot at the tyres. But forensic examination showed the bullets were shot at the rim of a parked car. This was the clinching evidence followed by technical and human intelligence inputs that helped our team crack the case,” the DIG said.

More arrests likely

He said Luvpreet has not been given a clean chit and more arrests are likely to be made in the case.

Mann said Paramjit and Gurpreet were previously involved in drug peddling in Fazilka and Amritsar districts, respectively.