Staffer, two aides held for ₹35-lakh robbery at Ludhiana gold firm

LUDHIANA: Hours after a gunwielding man robbed two employees of a gold trading firm, Shankar Metals, of ₹35 lakh cash at Kismat Complex near Miller Ganj Chowk on Friday evening, police have arrested one of the staffers, Gagandeep Singh of Halwara, along with his brotherin-law and another accomplice for concocting a fake robbery.

The money and a toy pistol have been recovered from the men’s possession. The second employee, Prince Singh, of Shivaji Nagar, has no involvement in the crime, police have said.

The other two accused are Satnam Singh alias Sandy, 27, of Tapa of Barnala, and Sandeep Singh alias Seepa, 24, of Raikot. Sandy is brother-in-law (wife’s cousin) of Gagandeep. Ludhiana police commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said the accused had been hatching this robbery conspiracy for over 20 days.

Gagandeep, a bouncer, had joined the firm in February and was employed to collect cash from business partners of the firm and deposit the money at the 5th floor of the complex.

On Friday, according to the plan the three accused had hatched, Seepa followed Gagandeep and the other employee and before they could board the lift, he flashed a gun and Gagandeep, who has a licenced pistol with him, handed over the bag to him, without offering any resistance. They did not raise alarm or give a chase to the robber, who fled with his accomplice Satnam Singh, waiting outside the complex on a motorcycle.

“The bouncer offering no resistance was suspicious. We rounded up Gagandeep and questioned him, following which he confessed to the crime. He led us to Sandeep, who was arrested from Raikot with Rs 10 lakh and Sandy, of Dhilwan of Tapa of Barnala, was arrested with the rest Rs 25 lakh,” the police commissioner added.

“During questioning, the accused told police that they had met in a gym where Gagandeep had shared the details of his job, which involved dealing with huge amounts of cash. They hatched a conspiracy and rehearsed the sequence before executing the crime,” he added.

A case under Sections 379-B (theft) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 25, 54 and 59 of Arms act has been registered against the accused at Division Number 6 police station.

Desire to get rich overnight led to crime Police claim the three accused, who had no criminal record till yesterday, were fuelled by a desire to get rich overnight. Gagandeep had spent his childhood in Patiala at the house of his parental grandparents and studied there. He dropped out after Class 12 and joined a gym, to later work as a bouncer.

Satnam, alias Sandy, has a postgraduate degree and owns a gym in Raikot. Sandeep, alias Seepa, a school drop out, was a member at Sandy’s gym and was to pocket Rs 10 lakh. Gagan and Sandeep were to pocket the rest.

Police commissioner Bhullar added they will also probe the Hawala angle in the transaction of huge amount. “Our first priority was detection of the crime and arrest of all the accused. Now, we will probe other angles,” he said.

“We will inform the income tax department to ensure that no black money is involved in any of the transactions of the firm. To date, the firm owner Deepak Arora has not produced any document to authenticate the involvement of so much money,” he added.