The Sector-20 bank robbery in Panchkula was the handiwork of four persons, of which two are national-level sportspersons.

Mastermind of the gang Jaipal and accused Gurshahid alias Shera are national-level hammer throwers. They came in contact at a sports event in Patiala last year, the police said. Also, Jaipal is the person who had kidnapped Chirag, son of a Ludhiana-based cinema owner in 2004.

These facts were reportedly disclosed by Shera, who is in custody of the Panchkula police at present, which got his custody from a court in Chandigarh to probe the Sector-20 bank robbery.

Shera reportedly told the police that he had cleared the IELTS exam and was preparing to go abroad but he met Jaipal and got lured by the world of crime.

Before their arrest, both were planning to rob the Sector-20 bank again, the police said.

“The gang was planning to strike the Sector-20 bank again, looking for a bigger target this time,” a senior police officer said.

A BA second year student of Shri Guru Gobind Singh College in Sector 26, Shera (21) is the son of a food and supply inspector in Abohar, Punjab. He joined the gang when Jaipal asked for his help as he was “facing a financial crunch”.

“Shera met Jaipal during a practice game in Patiala last year. Jaipal told him his father, a Punjab Police officer, had met with an accident and the family was undergoing a financial crunch. Jaipal requested Shera to help him in freeing his friend Raja (accused in highway robberies) from the Punjab Police’s custody in Barnala,” a police officer said.

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