Rs 8 Crore Ludhiana Heist: How Packaged Drink Helped Police Nab Accused Couple

Mandeep Kaur and husband Jaswinder Singh were the kingpins of the daring heist at a cash management firm in Ludhiana who robbed Rs 8 crore in cash on June 10

A couple in Punjab’s Ludhiana was able to pull off a successful multi-crore heist until they stumbled upon a packaged fruit juice pack which helped the police to nab the accused near Uttarakhand’s Hemkund Sahib. As per Punjab police, Mandeep Kaur and her husband Jaswinder Singh were the kingpins of the daring heist at a cash management firm in Ludhiana who robbed Rs 8 crore in cash on June 10. Following the robbery, the couple went to the Sikh pilgrimage shrine Hemkund Sahib, as per Ludhiana Police Commission Mandeep Singh Sidhu, reported NDTV. 

Mandeep Kaur and Jaswinder Singh had planned to flee to Nepal but a lookout notice was issued against them restricting their movement. They then decided to visit Hemkund Sahib, Kedarnath, and Haridwar before planning their next step, as per the report. 

The Heist

On the night of June 9, around 10 robbers reached the cash management agency CMS in Ludhiana’s Rajguru Nagar. The armed robbers locked up the two security guards and other staff members in a room and broke their mobile phones. The robbers also cut the wires of sensors installed in the agency and fled with Rs 8.49 crore cash stashed in a van. 

The police later recovered the van from Ludhiana’s Mullapur Dakha but there was no one in the vehicle. 

How Police Caught The Accused Couple 

After the robbery, Mandeep Kaur and Jaswinder Singh visited Hemkund Sahib, apparently to thank God for the success of their mission, as per the NDTV report. While the police knew their whereabouts, the challenge was to identify them in a crowd of devotees.

A free drinking kiosk was then set up and packets of fruit-flavoured drinks were handed over to the pilgrims. Unaware of the trap, the couple came to the kiosk and took their packets. As they uncovered their faces to take a sip, the police identified them, but the story does not end there.

The police waited for the couple to finish their prayers and as Mandeep and Jaswinder walked out of the shrine, the police made a move to arrest them, and after a short chase, nabbed them. 

A sum of Rs 21 lakh was recovered from the couple, Police Commissioner Sidhu said as per the report. Out of the Rs 8-crore loot, a sum of nearly Rs 6 crore has been recovered by police so far and nine accused arrested.

Punjab Police Chief Gaurav Yadav claimed that the kingpins were arrested within 100 hours of the robbery.