CASE 1:On February 12, two youths looted Rs 10 lakh from the State Bank of Patiala, Sector 15, in broad daylight. Interestingly, police officers were strolling on duty a few meters from the spot.

Branch Manager of the bank, Vandana Singla, says, “As there has been no breakthrough in the robbery case till date, the hope of getting our money back is fading with each passing day. After the day the robbery took place, we have not been contacted by any police officer. Our only hope is the new Superintendent of Police Shri Kant Jadhav.”

CASE 2:On January 23, a gang of four people drugged two employees of an Amritsar-based jewellery shop in the Sector-20 AWHO society and robbed them of gold ornaments worth around Rs 30 lakh.

For Pradeep Kumar, the jewellery shop owner: “The fact that even after having a photograph of the accused, the police have not arrested him, speaks volumes about the level of investigations. There is pure lawlessness in one of the most developed districts of the state,” says Kumar. He adds, “The main accused was identified as Twinkle, a resident of Amritsar, by our employees after they were shown pictures of criminals involved in various crimes in the tricity. Despite the considerable information available, every time we call up the police, they have nothing to offer except the age-old assurance that the accused will be nabbed.”

CASE 3:On January 27, five armed persons decamped with gold and diamond jewellery worth lakhs of rupees from PC Jewelers. The robbers, who were dressed in police uniform and accompanied by a handcuffed accomplice as well, posed as if they had come to the jewellery shop in connection with some case and carried out the robbery in just four minutes.

The manager of PC Jewelers, Sector 14, Ravinder Singhal, meanwhile, expresses his dissatisfaction with the status of investigations.

“While the police have been making efforts and have taken the hard disk of the CCTV footage to obtain clues, they are yet to crack the case,” said Singhal.

POLICE SAY
Deputy Superintendent of Police Varinder Singh said, “We are working on the cases and hope to solve them soon. While in the Sector-20 robbery case, the accused has been identified and police teams have been sent to different locations to arrest him, the various clues in the PC Jewelers case are also being studied.”