SSP146;s son was mastermind: cops

The duo has been sent to two days8217; police custody with the Phillaur police till October 15.

According to the police, Mohit had planned and executed the entire act with the assistance of seven others that included two security guards from the Indian Reserved Battalion IRB.

The other six accomplices, including a security guard, Amandeep Bittu, are, however, still at large.

Talking about the case Deputy Superintendent of Police DSP R S Sohal said, 8220;The needle of suspicion had always pointed towards Mohit for he was the person who knew that Shah was carrying such expensive stones.

We also found that the taxi too had been hired for Shah by Mohit. The case was, therefore, crystal clear.8221;

The DSP added, 8220;After his arrest, Mohit disclosed that he hid the diamonds in his room and we recovered them.8221;

Mohit and Shah were known to each other as the two had been reportedly trading for quite some time, said the police.

8220;Till now, the 400 gm of diamonds that we have recovered are worth Rs 4 crore. The value, however, could be higher,8221; added Sohal.

The diamond merchant, Bhupesh Shah, was looted of diamonds worth Rs 1.5 crore by some unidentified people when he was on his way from Ludhiana to Amritsar in a taxi hired from the city.

The merchant had come from Mumbai for a business transaction and was staying in a hotel on the Ferozepur Road here.

However, when they neared Phillaur, the taxi driver stopped to relieve himself.

Bhupesh Shah is said to have restrained him to stop there as he saw few men standing suspiciously but the driver stopped the car nevertheless.

As the driver went out, four people attacked him with sharp-edged weapons.

They fled from the scene after injuring him along with the taxi driver in the same car.