Patiala, November 24: The arrest of Amanjit Singh of Sangrur, son of a former Punjab Police Inspector, last week in the Nabha robbery case has opened a Pandora’s box of crimes.
The 37-year-old businessman has shot dead six persons, paralysed seven others for life and robbed over Rs1 crore in 14 robberies in the past 12 years.
“His detailed interrogation helped us solve 14 cases,” said Patiala SSP Mandeep Singh Sidhu.
“Initially, he admitted to committing three robberies, but we continued to grill him and his accomplice arrested from Ludhiana. I personally questioned him for over six hours and he spilled the beans. He told us that instead of creating fear, he would not utter a word and would just shoot dead anyone on the spot. He admitted to killing six persons and leaving seven paralysed assuming they were dead,” he added.
The police said Amanjit was a hard nut to crack. In December 2008, he targeted the cash van of Bharat Gas Agency in Cheema. He had shot guard Avtar Singh, cashier Satnarayan Singh and a consumer, Natha Singh, who was present at the spot. They escaped with Rs2 lakh cash and the double barrel gun of the guard.
On May 8, 2009, Amanjit and his accomplice Gurmail Singh Joker shot Rajkumar — an employee of Jindal Trading Limited — in Nabha while he was on his way to bank on a scooter to deposit cash. “Without warning him, he pumped a bullet in his chest waited for him to fall off the bike and fled with Rs7 lakh cash,” Sidhu said.
CIA incharge Shaminder Singh, who questioned the gang members, said the accused had been jailed in the past but managed to hide their misdeeds. “Amanjit seems to be a psycho killer who derives pleasure out of shooting people,” he said.
The SSP said Amanjit and his gang had planned to rob three more banks in Patiala and Sangrur before December. “Once his parents suspected him. To win their trust, he placed an unloaded revolver on his temple and fired to prove his innocence,” the police said.
The accused arrested in the case include Jagdev Singh Tari, Gurmail Singh Joker and Major Singh of Sangrur.
Last week, Amanjit and Tari were arrested in connection with the Nabha bank robbery in which a security guard was shot dead and Rs50 lakh looted.
Source Tribune India
