Mohali bank robbery: Three robbers in police net

Mohali bank robbery: Three robbers in police net

Harshabab Sidhu
Nabaz-e-Punjab, Mohali, July 12:
Mohali police have arrested three miscreants who looted Rs4.8 lakh at gunpoint from the all-woman branch of Punjab National Bank at Phase 3A here on July 17 this year.
The police also recovered Rs 3,01,500 from the looted amount, a fake air pistol, a sharp-edged knife and a silver Skoda car from the possession of miscreants.
The suspects have been identified as Sandeep Khurmi alias Sunny (28), a resident of Nakodar in Punjab, Sonu (28), a resident of Sector 45 in Chandigarh and Ravi Kothari (28), a resident of Bhiwani in Haryana.
Mohali Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kuldeep Singh Chahal said there were around 28 criminal cases registered against the suspects at the various police stations. He said Sunny and Sonu were lodged behind Ambala jail but due to pandemic, both were released on bail.
“All the three suspects are drug addicts. To fulfill their demands of drugs, the trio hatched a plan to commit bank robbery during the lockdown. For this, firstly they went on a recce of various bank branches in Chandigarh and Mohali. After that, they had chosen PNB branch of Phase 3A as there was no security guard there. Sunny and Sonu executed the robbery during daylight while Ravi kept standing outside the branch,” said the SSP.
The SSP added that the police have started the investigation and details about some more robberies might be coming after the interrogation of the suspects.
On June 17, the robbers had gone inside the bank during the lunch break (around 1.40 pm) with their faces covered. They executed the robbery in nearly two minutes after threatening the employees with a fake air pistol and sharp-edged knife. The incident was recorded on a CCTV camera at the bank. No security guard was present inside the branch then.
A case was registered in this regard at the Mataur police station.