In a major achievement, the Punjab Police has successfully solved the Dera Baba Jagatar Singh robbery case in a matter of days, with the arrest of all the six suspects and recovery of the entire stolen cash of Rs 1.66 crore.While Rs 1.13 crore was recovered by the Tarn Taran police, the remaining Rs 53 lakh was seized by the Amritsar police, disclosed DGP Dinkar Gupta, congratulating SSP Tarn Taran Dhruv Dahia and his team, along with Amritsar Police Commissionerate, for their outstanding work in cracking the case in such a short time. Extensive research, intelligence inputs and technical analysis had worked together to help the police solve the case so quickly, he added.The accused have been identified as Sukhwinder Singh @ Baba Bhondi, Tarsem Singh @ Grota, Balwinder Singh @ Billa s/o Tarsem Singh, Sukhchain Singh @ Chaina s/o Prem Singh (all residents of village Khurmanian in Amritsar district), along with Satnam Singh @ Satta and Ravi s/o Iqbal Singh, both residents of village Sangha, PS Sadar Tarn Taran.After the robbery on the night of February 24, the police had registered FIR no. 66 under sections 379B, 342, 459, 506, 34 IPC, PS City Tarn Taran, against unknown persons based on the statement of Baba Mohinder Singh. Another section, 395 of IPC, was added in the FIR on March 1, 2020.Based on the analysis of the CCTV footage, the police accurately identified the accused, who escaped towards Amritsar.
While Sukhchain Singh was arrested on February 28, Satnam Singh was nabbed the next day.Investigations revealed that they had planned and masterminded the entire robbery, as Satnam Singh used to work as a driver in the Dera of Baba Jagtar Singh, located near Guru Nanak Multispecialty Hospital in Tarn Taran. Satnam had detailed knowledge of the location of the cash, as well as the locations of various personnel at the Dera during the night.Satnam contacted Sukhchain Singh for planning and putting a team in place for execution of the robbery, since he knew Sukhchain Singh to have a strong criminal background. Sukhchain, who had recently come out of Amritsar Jail, then roped in the other accused, said the DGP. Barring Sukhchain Singh, all the other five accused came to the Dera in a Swift car on the night of the robbery. Two of them had stayed in the car.Further, during investigation, it became clear that no weapon had been used to commit the robbery. The Swift car which was used during robbery was recovered from Balwinder Singh.According to the DGP, the Tarn Taran Police recovered Rs. 12 lakhs of the stolen cash from the house of Sukhchain Singh and around Rs. 5.65 lakhs from the house of Satnam Singh. Based on further questioning of Sukhchain Singh, around Rs. 95.5 lakhs of stolen cash was recovered on March 5 by a team led by DSP/Crime against Property, Tarn Taran.The accused Sukhchain Singh had confessed that he had converted the stolen cash into US Dollars from a shop named Sethi Money Exchanger, near Railway station, Amritsar. He then deposited the converted 1.30 lakh US Dollars and the remaining Rs. 4.5 lakhs stolen cash in a locker in Punjab and Sindh Bank, Tarn Taran Road, Amritsar. Subsequently, the total amount was recovered from the bank on March 5.Further investigations into the case are being conducted, said the DGP.