In a swift breakthrough, the Panchkula Police crime team on Wednesday arrested the last two of four accused involved in the abduction and robbery of a HMT Pinjore resident, with one of them found to have links to the Rohit Godara gang and a firearms supply trail connected to a shootout in Gurugram last year.
The two accused, Deepesh of Charkhi Dadri and Yogesh of Bhiwani, were apprehended after an encounter at the HSIIDC industrial area near Alipur, under Barwala chowki of Chandimandir police station, when they allegedly opened fire on the crime team while trying to flee. A .32 bore Beretta pistol and two live rounds were recovered from them. With their arrest, all four accused in the case, including Ashish and Viren, held on Tuesday, have been nabbed within 48 hours of the FIR’s registration.
What has raised eyebrows is the profile of the accused: all four are students, yet police said their backgrounds reveal deepening criminal entanglements. Yogesh, police said, has been in touch with the Rohit Godara gang and had allegedly supplied weapons used to execute a firing incident in Gurugram last year, pointing to a wider arms-supply network operating behind the facade of campus life. Deepesh, meanwhile, already has FIRs registered against him in Gurugram for kidnapping and physical assault, indicating a pattern of violent crime predating Wednesday’s arrest.
According to the FIR registered at Pinjore police station, complainant Manjinder Singh, a resident of Power House Colony, HMT Pinjore, was abducted by four men in a black Scorpio near Gauri Shankar Temple on the eve of June 15 while returning home after refuelling his scooter. One of the accused allegedly held a knife to his waist and forced him into the vehicle, after which the group drove him around, skipped paying toll at Barwala, and robbed him of Rs 12,000 in cash besides misusing his phone for online payments before abandoning him near Barwala Grain Market. A case under Sections 140(3), 309(4), 351(2) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was registered on his statement.
DCP Crime and Traffic Amrinder Singh, who led Wednesday morning’s operation, told The Tribune that the crime team had received specific inputs about the movement of Deepesh and Yogesh in the Alipur area, following which a trap was laid. As the duo attempted to evade arrest and opened fire, the team retaliated, leading to their arrest, he said.
The police said further investigation is on to map the full extent of the gang network, the Godara gang’s role in arming local accused and the source of the weapon recovered on Wednesday.
