Patiala police claimed to crack the case within five hours with the arrest of the robbers from Sangrur.(Representational) Patiala police claimed to crack the case within five hours with the arrest of the robbers from Sangrur.(Representational) TWO ARMED robbers on a motorcycle with faces covered with hankerchiefs allegedly looted Rs 50 lakh and gunned down the guard outside State Bank of India branch in Nabha grain market on Wednesday. Patiala police claimed to crack the case within five hours with the arrest of the robbers from Sangrur, father of one of whom retired as sub-inspector a few years ago. 54-year-old Prem Chand, Patiala Range Inspector General A S Rai said, was shot in the chest as the cash, brought from Patiala Gate branch of SBI, was being taken to the grain market branch in connection with ongoing paddy procurement season. The looted currency notes included Rs 20 lakh in Rs 500 denomination, Rs 29 lakhs in Rs 100 denomination and Rs 1 lakh in Rs 50 denomination. Rai said Chand, a ex-serviceman, was the sole earning member of the family. Rai said Punjab DGP announced Rs 1 lakh reward for the police team which carried out the operation, but police have decided to give that amount to the family of Chand. An official of SBI said Chand was survived by his wife, and a son and daughter, who were college students. Police identified the robbers as 35-year-old Jagdev Singh aka Tari and 37-year-old Kuljit Singh aka Guri, both residents of Sangrur. The two struck at a time when some NGOs of Nabha had organised a function to felicitate Patiala police officials for cracking four murder cases and two dacoity cases in Nabha in past two months, said the IG. ”The incident took place in other side of the town from the place where function was being held,” said Patiala Senior Superintendent of Police Mandeep Singh, who was present during the function along with other official”. “We immediately swung into acti”n,” SSP said, adding that looting happened at 11:15 am and police were able to make arrests and recoveries by 4:15 pm on the basis of various inputs includi”g “human intelligence”. Police also analysed CCTV footage from several places. SSP said the robbers had their faces covered with handerchiefs. SSP said police recovered a 32-bore country-made revolver which was used to commit the crime. He added that police also recovered a 12-bore double barrel gun of the security guard which robbers took along and the cartrige of which had fallen as the robbers fled. Police also recovered a Royal Enfield motorcycle which was used to commit the crime. The SSP said that the trunk in which cash was put was found lying near a water channel as the robbers had made alternate arrangements to carry the looted cash. He added that the accused had rented a shop in Sangrur where they kept the cash and the motorcycle after committing the loot. SSP said one of the accused was in transport business, while the other ran a shop. For all the latest Chandigarh News, download Indian Express App

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