Three members of the gang that murdered members of cricketer Suresh Raina’s family in Punjab’s Pathankot last month, during a reported robbery, have been arrested, said Punjab chief minister (CM) Amarinder Singh on Wednesday, as he declared the case ‘solved’.
Eleven other accused are yet to be arrested, said DGP Dinkar Gupta, giving details of the arrests in the case which took place on August 19 in Tharyal village of PS Shahpurkandi, Pathankot.
Raina’s uncle Ashok Kumar, a contractor, had died on the spot, while his son Kaushal Kumar succumbed to injuries on August 31 and wife Asha Rani is in hospital in critical condition. Two others injured in the attack had been discharged from hospital.
Soon after the incident, the CM had ordered the constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) under IGP Border Range Amritsar, with SSP Pathankot, SP Investigation and DSP Dhar Kalan, to investigate the case.
On September 15, the SIT received information that three suspects, who were seen at the Defence Road on the morning after the incident, were staying in Jhuggis near the Pathankot Railway Station. A raid was conducted and all three were nabbed. The police recovered two wooden sticks (presumably used as weapons), two gold rings and cash worth ₹ 1,530.
The accused told the police they were part of a gang that had committed similar crimes across parts of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and even Jammu and Kashmir. They said they jumped from one location to another by following landmarks such as canals and railway lines.
Further investigations are in progress to nab the 11 absconders, including one identified person, and solve other robberies in which the gang members were involved.
Suresh Raina had talked about the incident on social media. Read more:
