Congress Sarpanch arrested in Patiala bank robbery case, he had looted 17 thousand dollars from UCO Bank. | Rare Techy

On Tuesday, the Patiala Police registered a robbery case against the UCO Bank in Ghanaur and arrested four persons for looting Rs 17.85 lakh from the bank. It is worth noting that a local Congress leader who is the sarpanch of Hafizabad village in Ropar district of Chemkaur Sahib is one of the 4 people detained.

According to reports, the district police have recovered the vehicle used by the defendant during the execution. At the same time, the police recovered a 12 barrel rifle, 2 cartridges and 100,000 dollars. 17.85 lakhs which was stolen from the bank by the accused.

The accused have been identified as Amandeep Singh (35), Congress leader and sarpanch of Hafizbad village in Chamkaur Sahib area, Dilpreet Singh alias Bhana, Prabhdial Singh, and Narinder Singh. Police said the Congress leader was the mastermind behind the Ghanaur bank robbery that took place on Monday. All the defendants are from Ropar district.

According to the police, the congress leader covered his face with a cloth mask and entered the bank for the first time on Monday at 3:35 pm. He asked about the deposit time and then left. However, two minutes later he returned with two of his armed accomplices and robbed the cash register.

They locked the bank employees in the cabin and stole a bicycle from one of the customers and then fled the scene. They then left the bike and sat in their car where the fourth accused helped them escape. “The police arrested the accused in less than 24 hours and recovered all the money that was stolen from the bank. After the incident, the police sealed all the exit points of the district and arrested the accused with weapons, ammunition, looted money and the car in which they fled.”

Sharma further confirmed that one of the accused is a local Congress leader. He added that Amandeep had previously been charged with robbery, murder, and robbery in seven separate incidents. “He is also an accused in the November 10 robbery of Rs 5 lakh from the SBI Bank in Xemnoo, Fatehgarh Sahib district. He is also accused of robbing the Morinda postmaster,” Sharma said.

Reportedly, the police will detain the suspect and interrogate them, as the defendant may have committed other similar crimes in the past. “Police will also investigate why they chose Ghanaur Bank, as it is almost 100 km away from their residences, and whether they had local support. The accused even took the CCTV video recording with them to cover up their crime,” SSP was described.

The incident happened on Monday around 15:40. The accused executed his crime and fled from the scene within 10 minutes. The police arrested 4 defendants in the case. Further investigations into the incident are ongoing.