In a significant breakthrough, the Panchkula police have apprehended the alleged mastermind of a notorious highway robbery gang responsible for a spree of crimes across the region. The Crime Branch, operating from Sector 19, arrested Deepak Kumar, also known as Deepu, putting an end to a gang involved in 53 incidents of robbery, blackmail, and extortion targeting commuters.
The Mastermind and His Criminal Record
According to police officials, the accused, Deepak Kumar, is a resident of Dhandardu village and was currently living as a tenant in Sector 12-A, Panchkula. He was finally apprehended from Pinjore Garden on January 2, 2026. The police revealed that Deepak Kumar was a proclaimed offender with a reward of Rs 5,000 on his head and has been actively involved in criminal activities for nearly 12 years.
A total of 19 criminal cases, including charges of snatching, robbery, attempt to murder, and illegal arms trafficking, are already registered against him in the police stations of Panchkula and Mohali. Following his arrest, he was produced before a local court, which granted the police a three-day remand to facilitate the recovery of looted cash and weapons used in the crimes.
Modus Operandi: A Woman as Bait
The gang had been operating for a long time across the tri-city area of Panchkula, Mohali, and Ambala, specifically targeting highway commuters. Their method was cunning and systematic. A woman accomplice would be used as bait to stop vehicles by pretending to seek a lift on the highway.
Once a driver stopped, other gang members would swiftly arrive on the scene to carry out their crimes. They would threaten the victims, rob them of cash and valuables, and often force them to transfer money digitally under the threat of weapons. Police investigations have so far linked the gang to over 54 such incidents.
The Case That Led to the Crackdown
The unraveling of the gang began with a complaint lodged at the Chandimandir police station on December 15. A truck driver from Himachal Pradesh reported that on December 13, while transporting goods from Baddi to Dehradun, he was stopped near Chandimandir around 5 am by a woman asking for a lift to the IT Park near Nada Sahib.
As the driver slowed down near the Ghaggar river bridge on the Panchkula–Yamunanagar highway, two men emerged from a WagonR car. They threatened him with a knife, looted Rs 2,400 in cash and his mobile phone, and then forced him to transfer an additional Rs 50,000 via Google Pay at knifepoint. Based on this complaint, a robbery case was registered.
Acting swiftly on this input, a Crime Branch team led by Inspector Mukesh Saini arrested two associates, Ashok Kumar from Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, and Sunny Kumar Sachdeva from Fazilka, Punjab, on December 17 near Suraj Cinema in Sector 1, Panchkula. The WagonR car used in the crime was seized from them. The very next day, on December 18, the police arrested the woman accomplice, Sandeep Kaur, alias Mahi, alias Deepu, from Ferozepur, Punjab.
During interrogation, the arrested individuals confessed to their involvement in the extensive crime wave. DCP (Crime and Traffic) Manpreet Singh Soodan stated that the accused admitted to 53 cases of snatching, extortion, and blackmail in the Panchkula, Mohali, and Ambala regions. Several other criminal cases are also registered against them in Punjab.
The arrest of the mastermind, Deepak Kumar, marks a crucial victory for the Panchkula police in their crackdown on organized highway crime, bringing relief to daily commuters in the region.
