Eight snatchings in an hour, flag march held in Dhariwal

Tribune News Service

Ravi Dhaliwal

Dhariwal (Gurdaspur), Nov 3

Eight incidents of snatching within one hour yesterday by a group of four car-borne youths sent shivers down the spines of town residents.

FIR registered against four persons

• SHO Sarabjit Singh said an FIR had been registered against four persons. “We are following leads taken from CCTV cameras installed at various places,” he said
• SSP Harish Dayama rushed to the Dhariwal police station, following which an intense checking drive was initiated
• “The suspects do not belong to the city. They are part of a gang which operates in Batala and Amritsar cities,” said the SSP

The police admitted that from 5 am to 6 am, the youths had virtually held the town to ransom. Jittery residents said they were stunned at the audacity with which they went about their task of looting people.

Following this, the police were quick to take out a flag march in the town yesterday. Even today, they remained busy conducting extensive raids in the town and its adjoining villages. Officers admit that the raids were conducted to pacify the rising anger of the residents against the police.

Dhariwal police station SHO Sarabjit Singh claims that four incidents had occurred in his area. “The other four have taken place in the jurisdiction of the Sekhwan police station which is a part of Batala police district,” he said.

The victims claimed it was high time the police recovered their ornaments.

Senior officers claimed that flag marches were a “normal thing” ahead of Diwali. This explanation seemed to be a ploy to brush things under the carpet as sources confirmed that “the car-borne youths” had actually triggered the flag march and the subsequent raids.

“It is because the snatchers had created so much panic in the town that we had to react,” said an officer.

The SHO said an FIR had been registered against the four persons. “We are following leads taken from CCTV cameras installed at various places,” he said.

SSP Harish Dayama rushed to the Dhariwal police station following which an intense checking drive was initiated. “The accused do not belong to the city. They are a part of a gang which operates in Batala and Amritsar cities,” said the SSP.

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