Sunday, 17 December 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The main accused in the Reliance Jewels heist carried out on November 9, Prince Kumar was brought here by Dehradun police on a transit remand from Bihar. The accused who had a reward of Rs two lakh on his arrest was arrested by the police earlier from Vaishali in Bihar.
The Dehradun senior superintendent of police Ajai Singh informed that during questioning, Kumar had carried out the heist along with his accomplices Abhiskeh, Vikram, Rahul and Avinash on instructions from Shashank and Subodh who are imprisoned in a Bihar jail. Revealing more to the police, Kumar said that on October 31, he and his gang members had come from Bihar to Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh. Kumar and Abhishek got down in Saharanpur while the others went to Ambala. Later, after carrying out the robbery in the jewellery showroom in Dehradun, Rahul and Avinash took the loot in bags by motorcycle to the Sahaspur area, using a route they had scouted earlier.
Learning about intensive checking being conducted by the police, the accused abandoned the car and two motorcycles they were using in the jungle after which Kumar went towards Paonta Sahib by an e-rickshaw. From there, Rahul and Avinash took the jewellery while Abhishek and Vikram reached Bihar by different means. The five accused had reconnoitered for many days while staying on rent in the Selaqui area for about 28 days before the heist. The SSP further said that according to Kumar, Shashank and Subodh communicated all stages of the plan to carry out the robbery by WhatsApp and other means to the gang members. Kumar also revealed that earlier in June, he had carried out a robbery in a Reliance showroom at Sangli in Maharashtra. He had used fake Aadhaar cards to purchase two motorcycles from Karnataka, which were used in the robbery.
In 2019, Kumar along with his accomplices had tried to shoot and kill Manish Singh alias Telia at Hajipur court where a Bihar police constable was also injured during the attempt. He was also involved in the murder of Lav Singh Mukhiya in 2020. It was while he was in jail for this crime that he met Shashank and Subodh after which he became a member of their gang, the SSP said.
