Delhi: Absconding military deserter arrested

A military deserter, who recently escaped from a hospital in Hoshiarpur, was arrested from Delhi on Friday morning, police said. 

Harpreet Singh (25), who had been booked for stealing rifles and ammunition from an army institute in Madhya Pradesh, was arrested from Connaught Place in Delhi at around 9 am. 

"Harpreet has been arrested from Delhi by a team of Hoshiarpur police," Hoshiarpur SSP Gaurav Garg said, adding that the accused had planned to escape to Nepal. 

On January 14, Singh had tricked police guards by making an excuse of going to the washroom and escaped from a civil hospital in Hoshiarpur by scaling its wall. He had been undergoing treatment at the hospital for a hand injury since December 31.

Singh, who was a sepoy in the Indian Army, is facing charges for stealing two INSAS rifles and ammunition from the army's training institute in Pachmarhi in Madhya Pradesh, they said.   

He was arrested from Chotala village near Tanda in Punjab's Hoshiarpur district in December after being declared a military deserter in October last year.

Singh's three accomplices were also arrested at that time. Posing as army officers, the accused had stolen the rifles and ammunition in the early hours of December 6.

The stolen arms and ammunition were recovered.

Singh is facing charges under sections of 380 (theft), 399 (making preparation to commit dacoity) and 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) of the Indian Penal Code and the Arms Act, police had then said.