Five men loot Rs 13 lakh from bank at gunpoint

Representational Picture

Unidentified men looted nearly Rs 13 lakh from a bank branch in a village in Punjab's Hoshiarpur district on Friday, the police said. The robbers, numbering five, entered the Bassi Daulat Khan branch of the Punjab National Bank and took away the money, which was kept in a trunk, at gunpoint.

The police have started the investigation to nab the accused. The robbers also took away the CCTV digital recorder of the bank. Hoshiarpur is around 140 km from here.

In another incident, three suspected members of the 'Zahar-Khurani Gang', including its leader, have been arrested for allegedly drugging and looting people travelling on autorickshaws in the national capital, police said on Monday. The accused, Kasir Alam (27), Mohammad Abbas (34) and Kurban (22), all natives of Bihar's Kishanganj district, were arrested from Dwarka by the Delhi Police's Crime Branch on November 9. According to the police, the accused have confessed to their crimes.

They had also managed to drug armed forces personnel, the police said, adding the accused usually targeted passengers who travelled alone with a lot of luggage. On November 9, police received a tip off that some members of the gang would come near IP University, Dwarka, on a scooter to dispose some stolen articles, Additional Commissioner of Police A K Singla said. Subsequently, a trap was laid and the accused were apprehended.

An auto rickshaw used in commission of crime, 12 stolen mobile phones, two wrist watches and other articles were seized from them, the officer said. Preliminary interrogation has revealed that the accused used the code word "duty" to signal their accomplices to proceed for the crime. Alam, said to be the leader of the gang, along with Kurban used to stand near crowded bus stops and pretend to be passengers heading to New Delhi railway station, Singla said.

Then, Abbas used to come to the spot with his autorickshaw seeking a ride to the railway station. Later, Alam and Kurban would share the ride with other passengers in Abbas's auto, the officer said. After travelling some distance, Alam would ask the driver to stop near a shop pretending that he is thirsty. Meanwhile, the accused would offer some drinks, laced with a powdered sedative, to the victim. Once, the victim becomes disoriented after consuming the drink, the accused take away his belongings and leave him at some isolated place, the police official said.

With inputs from IANS

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