A 50-year-old anganwadi teacher was killed on Monday after she fell from her scooter as two bike-borne men snatched her purse from outside the police commissioner’s office here.
The woman’s 26-year-old daughter, who was driving the scooter, was also injured in the incident. Police said Paramjit Kaur, a resident of Gumtala area, and her daughter Kiranjot, a teacher at Guru Nanak Dev University, were returning home from Putlighar when they were targeted by the snatchers near the Rani Ka Bagh locality.
As the accused took away the purse of Paramjit, who was riding pillion, her daughter lost control over the scooter. As per eyewitnesses, the mother-duo duo fell from the scooter and Paramjit’s head hit a road divider, resulting in her death on the spot. Kiranjot also sustained injuries on her head and face. Passers-by rushed the two to a nearby hospital.
“We got call at 6.30 pm from an unknown person who informed us about the accident,” said Paramjit’s son Gurpreet Singh. “When I reached the hospital, I was told that my mother had died. My sister has suffered severe injuries on her head,” he added.
Deputy commissioner of police (investigation) Jagmohan Singh reached the hospital and recorded Gurpreet’s statement. He said police will scan the CCTV footage of the area to identify the snatchers.
Kiranjot is engaged and her wedding is slated in December later this year. Her father Malkit Singh, who is tubewell operator in the municipal corporation, said the mother-daughter had gone out for marriage shopping. Police were yet to register a case till the filing of the report.
Frequent snatching incidents in the holy city have raised a question mark on police functioning. In January this year, snatchers had dragged a woman and her child to some distance before fleeing with her purse. The incident took place near Union finance minister Arun Jaitley’s house at posh Green Avenue locality.
After some days, when Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu visited the locality to meet the victim’s family, he had to face the wrath of residents over the failure of the police to curb crime.
