Clueless family leaves cops groping in the dark

Ludhiana: Armed with very little details about the house help who allegedly drugged the former SAD minister and his family before fleeing with valuables, police have struggled so far to make any headway into the loot case.The incident has revealed that former minister Jagdish Singh Garcha (88) and his family did not even know the actual name of the accused, nor had his picture. Now, the police are scanning CCTV cameras hoping to find a video grab of the accused. City police have shared all available information about the domestic help with the other states, especially those bordering Nepal. It is suspected that the house help belonged to Nepal and might try to flee to his native place.Meanwhile, Garcha regained consciousness only on Tuesday, a day after other family members had come to their senses. Their domestic help had allegedly drugged the family on Sunday night.Deputy commissioner of police (rural) Jaskiranjit Singh Teja said, “The domestic help was hired three months back through a Khanna resident who has not been traced yet. The helper had introduced himself as Bahadur. Moreover, the family had no picture of the accused. Whatever information we have got so far has been shared with cops at other states bordering Nepal. But to trace the accused, the police need to have his picture. Different teams have been constituted which are visiting different shops and houses in the nearby locality hoping to find a footage of the accused.”“The condition of former minister Garcha is stable as he has gained consciousness. It is suspected that the accused help had given them food laced with sedatives. The police are also suspecting that the accused took help of some outsider to carry out the task,” the DCP said.The domestic help, who was hired just three months back without any police verification, had allegedly given sedatives to Garcha, his wife Daljeet Kaur (87), sister Sukhdev Kaur (78) and another domestic help Renu, and decamped with cash, jewellery and other valuables late on Sunday night from Maharaja Ranjit Singh Nagar residence. Labourers hired for construction work at the house had found Garcha and his family members lying unconscious.