Murder of Suresh Raina’s kin: Punjab cops nab 3 of inter-state gang

Three members of an inter-state gang of robbers, who attacked and murdered cricketer Suresh Raina’s relatives, have been arrested, said Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday (September 16).

Punjab DGP Dinkar Gupta said eleven others are on the run. The robbery-murder took place on the night of August 19 in Tharyal village of Pathankot district. Suresh Raina’s uncle Ashok Kumar had died on the spot while his son Kaushal Kumar succumbed to injuries a few days later and wife Asha Rani is in hospital in critical condition. Two others injured in the attack were discharged from the hospital.

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Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh had constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to solve the case at the earliest.

On September 15, the SIT got a tip off that three suspects were staying in slums near the Pathankot Railway Station. All of them were arrested.

The cops seized some gold ornaments, petty cash along with two wooden sticks from the possession of the three suspects, identified as Sawan, Muhobbat and Shahrukh Khan, all residents of Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan.

Primary probe shows they were a part of a gang which had committed similar crimes in Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and various parts of Punjab.

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Pathankot SSP Gulneet Khurana said that Sawan, originally from Uttar Pradesh, told the SIT that on August 12, they had started from Chirawa and Pilani in an auto. He was accompanied by Nausau, Rashid, Rehan, Jabrana, Waphila, Tawajjal Bibi and an unknown person. On reaching Jagraon, Ludhiana, they were joined by Reenda, Golu and Sajan. They purchased certain objects from a hardware shop and a few Kacha Banyan (undergarments) from a garment shop in Ludhiana. They left for Pathankot after committing a robbery in Jagraon on the night of August 14.

In Pathankot, they were joined by one Sanju, who knew the area well, to conduct a recce.

Around 8pm on August 19, around 7-8 pm, they broke into groups of 2-3 persons and reached a designated spot in the open field where Rashid, Nausau and Sanju went to bring wooden sticks.

The gang’s first stop was a shuttering shop, where they had kept bamboo ladders. The first two houses where they put the ladders turned out to be a godown and an empty home, while the third was of Ashok Kumar. Five of them got into the house from the side of the roof, where they saw three people lying on the mat. The suspects hit them on the head before moving into the house, where they attacked two others before escaping with cash and gold ornaments, said the DGP.

The accused then reached the canal, where they separated in groups of twos and threes to reach the railway station. After distributing the cash and jewelry among themselves, they dispersed.

Police are on the hunt to nab 11 absconding burglars.