The mastermind of Monday’s Rs 17 lakh Ghanaur bank robbery was a 35-year-old Congress sarpanch from Chamkaur Sahib. In hours after robbing a UCO Bank branch, Amandeep Singh, the sarpanch of Hafzahbad village, was arrested along with three accomplices.
There was a criminal past to Amandeep, and he wanted to become a major politician. Chamkaur Sahib served on the Block Congress Committee and also headed a few cooperative societies.
On Tuesday, a team led by Patiala CIA in-charge Shaminder Singh arrested the four suspects near Chamkaur Sahib and recovered the robbed amount.
Dilpreet Singh, Paramdyaal Singh, and Narinder Singh have also been identified as the other accused.
As the accused held bank officials and customers hostage at gunpoint, they robbed UCO Bank’s Ghanaur branch of Rs 17 lakh. A customer’s bike was used to escape after they came on an autorickshaw. Following that, they boarded a car waiting for them some distance away. “We were able to trace the car and the accused using CCTV footage,” said the Senior Superintendent of Police.
An SBI branch at Sanghol was allegedly looted by Amandeep and one of his aides on November 10. During the case, he evaded arrest.