The investigators following the robbery accused woman and her husband received a tip-off that the couple was planning to flee to Nepal after their Hemkund Sahib pilgrimage. So they trekked 18 km from Govind Ghat to arrest the couple during their pilgrimage through a 'chabeel' counter set up.
The woman is accused in the Rs 8.49 crores robbery at a cash management services company and the investigating team had set up an elaborate plan to nab her along with her husband. Reports say that the accused name is Mandeep Kaur or Mona and during the operation she was referred to as 'Queen Bee".
According to the reports, the officials in the case told the media that they had received a tip-off regarding the couple's plan to flee to Nepal and a pilgrimage trip to Hemkund Sahib and thus the police decided that they would not chase after the couple rather wait for them to resurface for swift arrest.
The operation "Cage the Queen Bee" was led by inspector Beant Juneja who is the Crime Investigation Agency in-charge had decided to run the investigation with patience since the pilgrimage involved a lot of people and it would be easier for the accused to escape such a situation if they were being chased.
The police decided to set up a 'chabeel' counter that offered packed juices and glucose for the pilgrims in order to attract the pilgrims without suspicion and as per their plan, the accused and her husband came to the counter, accepted the juices and removed their masks to consume it, by revealing their faces. Following this, the police identified them and were arrested consequently.
Reportedly the inspector told the media that they found about the location of the couple from a source in Uttarakhand and after reaching there the investigators got to know about their registration for a pilgrimage trip to Hemkund Sahib.
After the arrest, the accused revealed more information about the robbery and the police discovered another Rs 21 lakh.
The accused also revealed that this pilgrimage was in plans from before the robbery as they had vowed to go there if their robbery plan succeeded. They reportedly also mentioned that they were not using any cellphones because of the pilgrimage trip and had contacted their parents by borrowing a phone earlier.
Majinder Singh, an aide of the accused was arrested earlier and they already were aware of it, revealed the accused.
Led by the joint commissioner of police Saumya Mishra, the Ludhiana police had constituted a five-member special investigation team for conducting a probe into the robbery.
According to the reports, the police commissioner suspected during the probe that the actual amount of the robbery was Rs 6.33 crores.
Reportedly this was one of the biggest robbery that was witnessed in Ludhiana with armed robbers who attacked a cash management services company and held five employees including two security guards captive last Saturday in the New Rajguru Nagar area. They also reportedly decamped with money and a cash van from the location.
