Criminals pose as cops, rob two of ₹42 lakh in Bathinda

POLICE SUSPECT THE ROLE OF TWO TRAVEL AGENTS BEHIND THE CRIME AS THEY WENT MISSING AFTER THE INCIDENT, COPS HAVE GOT CLUES FROM THE CCTV FOOTAGE

BATHINDA: : Two persons were allegedly robbed of Rs 42 lakhs by four unidentified men, including two posing as cops, who took them along from a hotel here in the wee hours of Saturday on the pretext of questioning before leaving them midway and fleeing with the cash.

Police suspect the role of two travel agents behind the crime as they went missing after the incident.

According to information, Gurpreet Singh from Patiala and his friend Varinder Singh from Faridkot checked in at a hotel near Hanuman Chowk locality of Bathinda on Friday. Their adjoining room was booked in the name of Nishan Singh from Ludhiana, a travel agent.

Civil lines SHO Harvinder Sran said Gurpreet and Varinder had reached Bathinda to hand over cash to Nishan as a part of a deal under which the duo had to hand over cash after their two relatives board a flight from Jaipur to Canada.

But before the deal materialised, the two were tricked by the agents, police said.

Bathinda senior superintendent of police (SSP) J Elanchezhian said the four persons, including two wearing a police uniform, reached the hotel at around 5 am.

“As per the complaint, the unidentified men told the three hotel room occupants to accompany them for questioning about the possession of huge cash. After traveling some distance on Malout road, Gurpreet and his friend were asked to alight from the car and others fled with cash and the agent,” said the SSP.

Elanchezhian said the agents had convinced the Patiala family to board two of their members under the pretext of an emergency travel plan.

“A travel agent was accompanying Patiala residents in Jaipur. Bur after the crime, he also disappeared from there and our teams are following leads,” he added.

The SSP said police have got a few clues from the CCTV footage about the accused and a car used by them.

A case under Sections 379-B (snatching); 365 (abduction); 506 (criminal intimidation) and other sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered at Civil Lines police station.