Kurukshetra:
Four masked men allegedly barged into the home of a senior advocate here, holding him and his wife at gunpoint while they looted cash, gold and silver jewellery, a licensed revolver and other valuables worth around Rs 3.15 crore, an official said on Friday.
According to the complaint lodged at Thanesar City police station, the incident took place Thursday evening.
In the complaint, senior advocate Balwant Singh Walia said he had gone out around 9.30 pm to walk his pet dog. When he returned around 10 pm, he found the house in disarray, with his wife lying face down on a bed with her hands and feet tied with rope, and adhesive tape over her mouth.
The complainant said four masked assailants were present in the house. The advocate was overpowered and tied up, with the intruders assaulting the elderly couple and holding them at gunpoint, demanding cash and valuables.
The robbers allegedly told the couple that they were behind a Rs 50-lakh burglary at the same house on March 20 this year. According to the complainant, the assailants said they had failed to open the digital safes on that occasion, and demanded Walia open the lockers, threatening to shoot them both if they refused.
Fearing for their lives, the advocate handed over keys to valuables and opened the two digital lockers. The accused allegedly escaped with Rs 17-20 lakh in cash, 1.5-2 kg of gold jewellery, around 4 kg of silver ornaments, utensils and idols, a licensed revolver, cartridges, and other valuables. Before leaving, they allegedly damaged four CCTV cameras and took away the DVR to destroy evidence.
Walia alleged that the robbers demanded another Rs 80 lakh, warned that they would return, and threatened to kill the couple if the matter was reported to police.
The accused then locked the main door from the outside before fleeing. After an alarm was raised, neighbours reached the spot and freed the elderly couple before informing police.
Subsequently, police and forensic teams and senior officials visited the scene.
A case has been registered at Thanesar City police station against unidentified persons under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) relating to robbery, criminal intimidation and other offences, along with sections of the Arms Act.
Station House Officer Devender Singh on Friday said teams of the Crime Investigation Agency and local police are investigating the case, scanning CCTV footage from across the city to trace the suspects.
Security has been deployed at the advocate’s residence.
Regarding the alleged robbery bid at the residence in March this year, police said a case had been registered in connection with the earlier incident, and investigation is underway.
Reacting to the incident, former Haryana minister and Congress’ Thanesar MLA Ashok Arora alleged that law and order in the state had deteriorated.
He said Kurukshetra, once regarded as one of Haryana’s most peaceful cities, is now witnessing frequent incidents of serious crimes.
Arora urged the administration to take immediate and effective action to arrest the culprits and restore public confidence in law enforcement.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
