Bus conductor robbed of ₹10,000, gold chain
Robbery led to four-hour traffic jam at Ladhowal toll barrier as PTRC staff block highway, raise slogans against AAP govt, police
LUDHIANA: : Three men fired in the air and robbed a conductor of a Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) bus of Rs 10,000 and a gold chain near Ladhowal toll barrier on the highway near Ludhiana around 8am on Wednesday.
Though all 52 passengers on board the bus besides the driver and conductor were unhurt, the incident triggered panic and anger. Police earlier said that CCTV footage showed the three robbers had been following the bus on motorcycle and a scooter. When the bus reached Ladhowal toll barrier, they drew up near it and picked up an argument with the conductor, Sahil Singh, before hurling abuses at him.
Suddenly, they opened fire in the air and snatched the cash that the conductor had collected as bus fare from passengers. The robbers fled on their twowheelers soon after.
Ludhiana police commissioner Kaustubh Sharma said there was an altercation between the bus staff and three men. “We have identified one of the suspects who is a resident of Ladhowal village. He is a salesman and sells pest control chemicals. The police are trying to trace other suspects too,” he said, adding that they have procured CCTV footage of the spot.
The bus was going from Patiala to Amritsar when the incident occurred near Ludhianà. PRTC staff blocked traffic at the toll barrier for four hours and raised slogans against the Bhagwant Mann-led am Aadmi Party government and police. Due to the blockade, hundreds of vehicles were stuck in the jam. After the incident was widely shared on social media, the police swung into action and cleared the traffic by Wednesday afternoon.
Taking on the Aam Aadmi Party government for the growing crime in the border state, former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh referred to the Ludhiana robbery and tweeted: “Jungle Raj in Punjab. 9 murders in last 2 days. Today a bus looted by armed robbers on a busy highway in broad daylight near Ludhiana. @BhagwantMann govt is proving to be disastrous. There’s an atmosphere of fear across Punjab.”