A fortnight after the Indian cricketer Suresh Raina appealed to the Punjab Police to identify and arrest the attackers of his relatives in Pathankot, in which his uncle and cousin were killed, the Punjab Police on Wednesday claimed to have case with the arrest of three members of an inter-state gang of robber-criminals.
The information was shared by the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, who had assured Raina for “bringing the guilty to justice”. Sharing the details, the DGP Gupta said that 11 other accused are yet to be arrested.
In a shocking incident, that took place on the night of August 19 in Tharyal village of Shahpurkandi police station of Pathankot district, Raina’s uncle Ashok Kumar, a contractor, had died on the spot, while his son Kaushal Kumar succumbed to injuries on August 1 and wife Asha Rani is in hospital in critical condition. Two others injured in the attack had been discharged from hospital.
Raina, in a series of tweets on September 1, had sought the help of Punjab Police in catching the culprits and also tagged the Chief Minister in one of them. Responding, the Chief Minister had ordered the setting up of a SIT (special investigation team) within hours into the case.
The SIT was constituted under IGP Border Range Amritsar, with Pathankot Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), SP Investigation and DSP Dhar Kalan as its members, to investigate the case thoroughly and expeditiously.
Raina, who pulled out of the IPL 2020 and returned home from the UAE citing ‘personal reasons’, had stated said that what happened to his family was beyond horrible.
“My uncle was slaughtered to death, my bua and both my cousins had severe injuries… Unfortunately my cousin also passed away last night after battling for life for days. My bua is still very very critical and is on life support,” Raina had tweeted.
MODUS OPERANDI
On the night of August 19, at around 7-8 pm, they moved in groups of two-three persons, as per their modus operandi, and reached a designated spot in the open field where Rashid, Nausau, and Sanju alias Chajju went to bring wooden sticks which they cut from Safeda (Eucalyptus) tree. During recce, they had already identified a shuttering shop, where the bamboo ladders were tied up using chains. The first two houses, where they put the ladders, turned out to be a godown and an empty home, while the third was of Ashok Kumar.
Five of the accused entered the house using the ladder from the side of the roof, where they saw three people lying on the mats.
The suspects hit them on the head before moving into the house, where they attacked two others before escaping with cash and gold ornaments, said the DGP.
The accused then crossed the high tension electricity wires through the open field to reach the canal, where they separated in groups of twos and threes to reach the railway station. After distributing the cash and jewellery among themselves, they dispersed.
HOW THEY WERE NABBED
On September 15, the SIT received information that three suspects, who were seen at the Defence Road on the morning after the incident, were staying in jhuggis near the Pathankot Railway Station, and a raid was conducted and all three were nabbed, said the DGP.
The DGP said that a gold ring bearing AK, one ladies ring, one ladies gold chain and Rs 1530 was recovered, along with two wooden sticks, were recovered from the arrested accused, identified as Sawan alias Matching, Muhobbat, and Shahrukh Khan, currently residents of Chirawa and Pilani jhuggis, Jhunjhunu district, Rajasthan. Further investigations are in progress to arrest the 11 absconders, including one identified person, and solve other robberies in which the gang members were involved.