The city police on Saturday claimed to have solved 16 cases of theft and burglary with the arrest of four persons, including a Nepal native. The police have also recovered diamond, gold and silver ornaments, electronic items and Rs 1.50 lakh from the accused.
Those arrested have been identified as Shankar Thapa (28), a Nepal native, Jagdeep Singh (24), Ashok Kumar Tiwari (27) and Gurminder Singh, alias Happy (54).
Out of the 16 thefts, 10 were committed in the areas falling under the Sector 36 and Sector 39 police stations. The four were arrested at Sector 36 last Monday on the basis of secret information. While Shankar, Jagdeep and Ashok committed the thefts, Gurminder allegedly received the stolen items.
The accused have also committed a theft in Phase 11 at Mohali from where they had decamped with a double-barrel gun, a camera and gold jewellery.
During interrogation, Ashok Kumar revealed that he had given the gun to someone in Ayodhaya, Uttar Pradesh.
The accused, barring Gurminder, had come into contact with each other through a common friend, Manir, who was also lodged in the Patiala Jail.
Jagdeep, who was a taxi driver and had two cars, a Maruti Baleno and an Alto, roamed the streets in posh areas of the city to look for locked houses during the day. At night, the accused entered the houses by breaking open the locks and decamped with valuables. They stole car keys from some houses and had planned to steal the vehicles later. Five such car keys have also been recovered from them.
As per the police, all of them were having a luxurious life. They wore branded clothes, drank branded liquor and gambled.
A huge number of diamond and gold ornaments have been recovered from the accused. These include three solitaire diamond rings, two pairs of solitaire diamond tops, Rs1,50,000 in cash, five gold necklaces, four gold chains, two gold lockets, nine gold rings, four gold earrings, four gold ear tops, 13 silver rings, four pendent sets, six silver anklets and ten silver coins. The police also recovered two LEDs, a DVR, seven wrist watches from them.
About the accused
Shankar Thapa works as a caterer and lives in Palsora. Jagdeep Singh is a taxi driver and lives in Ambala. Ashok Kumar Tiwari is an auto driver, who lives in Palsora, and Gurminder Singh, a jeweller who resides in Phase 1, Mohali. The three accused, barring Gurminder, have a tainted past. Jagdeep was arrested in a cheating case and had remained in the Patiala jail while Shankar was lodged in the Burail jail in a theft case. Ashok was lodged at the Ropar jail in a theft case.
