Crime on the rise in Patiala: Five thefts reported in a day, four arrested

The number of thefts in Patiala district is continuously on the rise. Five more thefts were reported in district on Monday, taking the crime tally to 24 cases in just eight days.

Raising concerns over regular incidents of thefts, resident welfare organisations met senior officials over the matter.

According to police, five cases of thefts were registered in Patiala district on Monday. In these incidents, miscreants targeted three shops and a house, while in one case, cops have arrested a person with a stolen Activa scooter.

The first information reports (FIRs) have been registered at Kotwali Nabha, Urban Estate Patiala, Lahori Gate Patiala, Tripuri and Kotwali Patiala police stations.

In the first two incidents, miscreants decamped with sanitaryware worth lakhs. Cops are suspecting involvement of the same accused in both the cases.

In the first incident, unidentified miscreants entered a sanitaryware showroom on Nabha road and decamped with expensive faucets, showers, two two-wheelers and ₹20,000 cash.

Cops said that as per the initial investigation, it seems that the thieves entered the showroom by breaking a door on the roof. The FIR has been registered under Sections 457 (lurking house-trespass or house-breaking by night in order to commit offence punishable with imprisonment) and 380 (theft in dwelling house) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at the Kotwali Nabha police station.

Similarly, unidentified miscreants had targeted another sanitary shop and looted goods worth ₹40,000. A case was registered under Sections 457 and 380 of the IPC at the Urban Estate police station.

In the third incident, unidentified miscreants stolen the motorcycle of Prince, a resident of Sirhind Gate, from the Lahori Gate area. An FIR was lodged under Section 379 (theft) of the IPC at Kotwali police station.

In the fourth case, Kuldeep Singh, a resident of the Professors Colony, told police that he has a shop of readymade garments and shoes. Jeet Singh, a resident of Newer Colony, works as a salesman there while and Ajaib Singh, of Fatehgarh Sahib, is the security guard.

Both had been stealing stock from his shops for the past three months. Acting on the complaint, cops have registered a case under Section 381 (theft by clerk or servant of property in possession of master) of the IPC at Tripuri police station on Monday and nabbed both the accused.

In the fifth case, police have arrested two persons, identified as Gourav Sharma and Vijay Kumar, of Patiala, with a stolen Activa from Sirhind Gate and booked them under Sections 457, 380 and 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) of the IPC on Monday.

Superintendent of police (SP) Harmeet Singh Hundal said, “Investigation is on in all the incidents. We have constituted joint teams of different police stations to find the culprits. Thefts at the sanitaryware shops might have been done by the same people. However, we cannot say much about the matter at the moment. All angles are being investigated.”