Moga police crack down on gangs of snatchers, 9 held

FARIDKOT: Police have busted two gangs of vehicle snatchers with the arrest of nine persons in separate cases on Friday. The crime investigation agency (CIA) wing of the Moga police had made the arrests, with inspector Kikkar Singh Bhullar, in-charge of CIA wing, Moga, leading the teams.

In the first case, police recovered three cars and four weapons, including three pistols, with the arrest of five gang members on Monday. The accused are Ranjot Singh, Gursharan Singh, Swaran Singh, Mukesh Kumar and Arshdeep Singh, all of Moga district. Their two aides, Gurpreet Singh and Bhupinder Singh, are absconding.

Moga SSP Gulneet Singh Khurana said, “We got to know of this gang after we bought Harmander Singh, from Kapurthala jail on production warrant. He had been lodged in jail in a drugs case, but he confessed to be running a gang of car snatchers.”

He added, “Harmander also confessed that the gang snatched two cars, a Toyota Fortuner and a Mahindra XUV on October 24 and October 25, respectively, at gunpoint. The gang also snatched ₹2.5 lakh from one Gurwinder Singh, in Jagraon on October 11. It was on his confession that we made the arrests. Three more cars have been recovered.” The accused have been booked under sections 397 (theft) and under the Arms Act.

33 BIKES RECOVERED, FOUR HELD

In another case, the CIA arrested four persons and recovered 33 stolen bikes. The accused are Harjinder Singh, Dharminder Singh, Buta Singh, Harjiwan Singh, of Moga district.