Chandigarh: The Punjab police has said that it learnt that serving Agniveer Ishmeet Singh turned to carjacking because he was disappointed with his work.
Police also think that because he allegedly came from a family in which others had a criminal history and had financial difficulties, he might have been moved to enter into a life of crime.
Punjab’s Mohali district police arrested Ishmeet Singh along with his brother Prabh Preet Singh and another accomplice Balkaran Singh on Wednesday, July 25, days after they had allegedly stolen a car near Mohali city.
“CCTV footage and mobile SIM location helped police arrest Ishmeet Singh and others,” Mohali’s deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Harsimrat Singh told The Wire.
DSP Harsimrat, who is superivising the case, said police were surprised to discover that Ishmeet had been recruited to the army in 2022 under the Agnipath scheme.
“Upon investigation, it was found that he overstepped his two-month leave at his current posting in West Bengal and had entered into the world of crime to make easy money,” Singh added.
As per the statement released by the Eastern Command of the Indian army, he was declared a deserter after he failed to report on job following termination of his leave on June 8 last month.
Under the Agnipath scheme, applicants aged between 17.5 and 21 years are recruited to the army, navy and air force on a four-year contract, at the end of which around a quarter are retained in the forces. The others retire without a pension.
Many, including the opposition, have criticised the government for introducing the scheme. The Congress party has demanded that the scheme be scrapped.
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Motivation
The trio, as per a police probe, belonged to Tahliwala Bandla village in Punjab’s border district of Fazilka, 250 km from Chandigarh.
Ishmeet Singh’s brother was working as a taxi driver in a town near Mohali and this is how they picked the area for their criminal activities before their arrest, police said.
DSP Harsimrat also told The Wire that during investigation, Ishmeet shared with police that he was not satisfied with his job, and the fact that he was getting not more than Rs 20,000 a month. He felt that his future was uncertain since his job in the army lasted only for four years, Harsimrat said.
“But this alone could not have factored in his indulgence into crime. He might have been motivated to commit a crime because of his family background too,” Singh added.
He shared that the financial condition of Ishmeet’s family was not sound. His father died long ago, and the family had no agricultural land to cultivate. Two years ago, his mother was caught in a narcotics case. Two kilograms of poppy husk (remains of poppy seed harvest) were recovered from her. She is currently out on bail.
“Also, he did not study beyond Class 12 and therefore could not plan his future well despite finding himself a job in the army,” emphasised Singh.
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As per the police probe, after taking leave from work in May, he secured a weapon through someone he had met in train in Uttar Pradesh.
Once he procured a weapon, he rented a house near Mohali city, in Balongi, along with his brother and another accomplice. Then, started a life of snatching vehicles.
As he did not return after his leave, Harsimrat said that it appeared that he had no plans to rejoin and was keen on getting himself fully involved in crime. The weapon handling training he got gave him an added advantage.
The police made the trio the main accused in the July 21 car snatching case in Mohali. Police claimed that they booked a taxi through the InDrive app and took away the vehicle by spraying pepper on the driver’s face. When the taxi driver resisted, one of them fired a shot before fleeing the spot.
One country-made pistol, two rounds, a car with a fake number, two two-wheelers and two mobile phones were recovered from them at the time of their arrest, police revealed during a media interaction on Wednesday, July 24.
DSP Harsimrat told The Wire that the idea of forming a gang was Ishmeet’s. Also, his brother apprised him about heavy movement of taxis and other private vehicles in the area due to number of reasons including presence of an international airport.
Meanwhile, the police remand of the trio will be over today, July 26. They are most likely to be sent for judicial remand.
