Two arrested for stealing coins from Martyrs’ Well

OVER 10,000 COINS WERE RECOVERED FROM POSSESSION OF THE ACCUSED

AMRITSAR: The police arrested two persons red handed while stealing donation money from the historic Martyrs’ Well at Jallianwala Bagh during the intervening night of Sunday and Monday.

The arrested persons have been identified as Bhupinder Singh of Sultanwind locality here and Gurtej Singh who belongs to Utter Pardesh.

Both the accused are in their twenties.

Sources said, the duo had planned to steal coins thrown by the visitors in the form of donation, on Sunday night.

The caretakers of the garden noticed the accused stealing the coins and informed the police.

A police team led by assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Attar Singh caught the accused while committing the crime.

During interrogation, the accused persons confessed hiding behind the bushes on Sunday evening.

The gate of the garden was locked at 7.30 pm. They stayed there till mid night.

At around 12.30 am on Monday, the accused started stealing the coins assuming lack of security guards.

The accused used a long jute rope to go down in the well.The accused had tied the rope to the piller of the shed of the well. The accused had broken the window of the well.

As many as 10,121 coins were recovered from their possession. The police said the accused have been involved previously in thefts and robberies.

A case based on the Jallianwala Bagh secretary SK Mukherji’s statement under Sections 457 (housebreaking by night) and 380 (theft in dwelling house) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered against them.

This is the second case of burglary in the Martyrs’ Well in this year. Earlier, similar theft had taken place in June.