Chandigarh: The case of murder of two relatives of cricketer Suresh Raina and murderous attack on three others has been solved with the arrest of three members of an inter-state gang of criminals, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said Wednesday.
Efforts to arrest 11 other criminals, including one identified person, were on and police expected to solve other cases of robberies committed by the gang, DGP Dinkar Gupta said.
August 19 night, Raina’s uncle and contractor Ashok Kumar was killed by the gang in Tharyal village in Pathankot district. Ashok’s son Kaushal succumbed to his injuries August 31 whereas Raina’s paternal aunt and Ashok’s wife Asha Rani was critically injured. Two other persons were also attacked and injured by the robbers.
Soon after the incident, the Chief Minister had ordered the constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by IGP Border Range (Amritsar) to investigate the case.
The SIT summoned more than 100 suspects for investigation, the DGP said.
September 15, the SIT received information that the three suspects seen on the Defence Road on the morning after the crime were staying in shanties near the Pathankot railway station. A raid was conducted and all three were arrested.
Police said the accused gang members had committed a number of similar crimes in Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and elsewhere in Punjab.
August 19, around 7-8 pm, they gathered at a designated spot in an open field where accused Rashid, Nausau, and Sanju brought wooden logs cut from eucalyptus tree to use as weapons to batter their victims.
They stole bamboo ladders from a shuttering shop, which they had identified during a recce. They entered a godown and an empty house with the help of ladders, and lastly the third premises that belonged to Ashok Kumar.
Five accused entered his house using the ladder, and saw three family member sleeping on mats. The suspects hit them on their heads with logs before moving into the house, where they attacked two others before escaping with cash and gold ornaments, said the DGP.
The accused later reached the city’s railway station and went their separate ways after dividing the looted cash and jewellery among themselves.
IANS
