RS 5.70-CR. BANK ROBBERY CASE: Daljeet Singh Bittu and 11 others sentenced to 10 years RI

Ludhiana, November 20, 2012: A local Court today convicted and sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment (RI) to twelve accused in the Rs 5.70 crore bank robbery case that had occurred during era of terrorism in Punjab.

Those who have been convicted and sentenced, included Gurnam Singh of village Rattan in Ludhiana, Daljeet Singh Bittu of Gurdev Nagar Ludhiana, Harjinder Singh of Lalton in Ludhiana, Balwinder Singh of village Tolly near Nakodar in Jalandhar, Mohan Singh of village Kartarpur Ludhiana, Swaroop Singh of Jalandhar, Gurjant Singh of Jagraon, Avtar Singh of Jalandhar, Harbhajan Singh of Nakodar, Sewa Singh of Hoshiarpur, Assa Singh of Hoshiarpur and Mann Singh of Ludhiana.

It may be mentioned here that Sukhwinder Singh Sukha and Harjinder Singh Jinda were also the accused in the case. They were convicted and hanged to death for the assassination of General AS Vaidya, who was the Chief of Army Staff at the time of Operation Bluestar.

There were a total 26 more accused in this case who had already been killed during the militancy in various encounters with the police. Besides, 5 accused were discharged.

On February 12, 1987, the accused had looted Rs 5.70 crore at PNB Miller Ganj Branch at Ludhiana. They had been wearing police uniforms at that time. Following this incident, Police Division 6 had registered the case.