Panchkula police’s crime branch, Sector 19, has busted a notorious gang allegedly involved in 54 cases of highway robbery, blackmail and extortion.
Three members of the gang, including a woman, have been arrested and the vehicle used in the crimes has been recovered, said police.
The arrests came following a complaint lodged by a truck driver from Himachal Pradesh on December 15. The complainant stated on December 13, while driving towards Dehradun, he offered a lift to a young woman near the Chandimandir toll plaza around 5 am.
When he stopped near Chawki village to drop her, two men intercepted his vehicle in a car and, at knifepoint, robbed him of ₹2,400 in cash and his mobile phone. They also forced him to transfer ₹50,000 through Google Pay.
Acting on intelligence inputs, the crime branch arrested Ashok Kumar, 23, a resident of Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh, and Sunny Kumar Sachdeva of Fazilka in Punjab near Suraj Cinema in Sector 1 on December 17. Their woman accomplice, Sandeep Kaur, alias Mahi, a resident of Ferozepur in Punjab, was arrested the following day.
During investigation, it was revealed that the trio operated as an organised unit, using the woman to lure unsuspecting drivers before the men ambushed and robbed them.
ACP (crime) Arvind Kamboj said during interrogation, the accused confessed to their involvement in 54 similar crimes across Panchkula, Mohali and Ambala. The accused, who are already facing several criminal cases in Punjab, have been remanded to three days of police custody for the recovery of stolen property and the weapon used in the crimes.
Police said raids were being conducted to arrest a fourth member of the gang who was at large.