Two robbery-accused held after encounter in Punjab's Hoshiarpur

Hoshiarpur, Jun 28 (PTI) Police on Saturday arrested two people, including a dreaded criminal, following an encounter in connection with a recent robbery incident at a money exchange shop in a village here, officials said.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Sandeep Kumar Malik said police had earlier arrested three accused -- Hardeep, Harpreet, and Jaswinder Singh -- in connection with the robbery.

The robbery incident was reported on June 18. The accused had robbed a money exchange shop of Rs 2.50 lakh.

During the interrogation of the three accused held previously, two more accused were identified as Daljit Singh alias Dally, a resident of Sadiq village in Jalandhar, and Jaswinder Singh, a resident of village Narur in Kapurthala district.

Based on human and technical intelligence, police teams cordoned off the area and were conducting patrols, Malik said.

During the operation, a police team led by the Chabbewal Station House Officer confronted the accused at Barian Kalan village while they were travelling on a motorcycle.

"When the police signalled them to stop, they refused to comply and instead opened fire at the police," Malik said, adding that the police retaliated and fired four to five rounds.

In the exchange of fire, Daljit suffered a gunshot injury in his foot and was referred to a government hospital in Hoshiarpur while Jaswinder was arrested on the spot.

Malik said Daljit Singh is a habitual offender with 14 to 15 criminal cases registered against him, including murder, attempt to murder, robbery, dacoity, snatching, and other offences.

Jaswinder also has two cases of robbery and theft registered against him and is a proclaimed offender, the SSP said. PTI COR CHS HIG HIG