NEW DELHI: Delhi Police on Wednesday said they have arrested the accused persons and recovered all valuables stolen from the house of former Punjab Minister Jagdish Singh Garcha in Ludhiana. The robbers have allegedly drugged the former Akali Minister, his wife and his sister along with their domestic help. The incident came to light on Monday morning when no one from the Garcha family answered the doorbell.
When the Ludhiana police broke open the door, they found the family members in an unconscious state and rushed them to a nearby hospital. The house was ransacked and several valuables were found missing, police had said. According to a senior Delhi Police official, a Head Constable who was patrolling the Anand Vihar ISBT bus depot saw one Nepali boy namely Sarjan Shah, roaming suspiciously with a bag. “When the policeman asked him to open the bag, the accused got scared and offered money and gold as a bribe to let him go. During the checking, several gold ornaments and valuables were found,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Amrutha Guguloth said.
During the interrogation, the accused revealed that he along with his associates had stolen this jewellery from Sadar Area in Ludhiana City, Punjab. On further cross-examination, the Nepali citizen revealed that his associates are staying at Bhovapur, in Kaushambi, UP, but he does not know the exact address.
Accordingly, a team was formed which took him to Bhovapur, Subzi Mandi Road and the other two accused persons namely Karan (main accused) and Kishan (both Nepali citizens) were apprehended.
“Karan, who was working as a cook in the house of ex-minister Gharcha, hatched the conspiracy along with Sarjan and Krishna,” the DCP said.
The accused had drugged all the family members and stole the jewellery and money, the senior police official added. Garcha (88) had represented the Kila Raipur seat twice in the Punjab Assembly. He was a minister in the Akali government and was once a close confidant of former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal. However, he left the Shiromani Akali Dal in 2020.