Gangster held, 4 flee after encounter in Tarn Taran
TARNTARAN: The special task force (STF) police arrested an alleged gangster-cum-smugg l er, identified as Jog in der Singh, alias Shammi. The accused was arrested after an hour-long exchange of fire at Kot Budha village of Patti sub-division ,30 km from the district headquarters, on Friday night.
The police arrested Shammi with 500 gm heroin valued ₹2.5 crore in the international market, an SUV Renault Duster and a .30 bore pistol. However, his four aides managed to flee from the spot even after heavy police force deployment, taking advantage of dark, sources said.
As per the information, Sh am mi and two police personals were injured in the cross firing in which around 50 rounds were fired from both sides. However, the STF said that the injuries were minor and no one received bullets.
The Patti police had booked Shammi, his father Lal Singh, mother Kaushalya, sister Krishan Kaur, brothers Sonu and Harbhajan Singh, Hira Singh, Lakhi and Deb under Sections 21-25-29-61-85 of the NDPS Act and 25-54-59 of the Arms Act, on Friday night. ST Fin-charge, border zone, Sukh winder Singh Randhawa confirmed Shammi’s arrest on Saturday. As per the FIR, inspector Sukh winder Singh with inspector Arun Sharma, sub-inspector Amarpartap Singh, including STF cops were patrolling near Chuslewar village in Patti.
The team got a tip-off that Shammi was running a drug nexus. His brothers—Sonu and Harbhajan—were also running a drug racket from Ferozepur jail and their family also has strong links with Pakistani smugglers, said sources.
The secret informer also told the STF police that Shammi and his aides were coming from Fe roze pu rt os up ply heroin in Amritsar. Following which, the police laid a trap at Kot Budha village, said sources. Shammi and his aid es were in an SUV car an dona bike. When they reached near the village, the team tried to stop them but they opened fire at the police party.
The ST F team also launched a counter-attack and arrested Shammi after an hour- long exchange of fire, said sources. Shammiisan accused in several other cases, including attempt to murder.
Inspector Randhawa said, “Shammi has been arrested and the others will also be held soon .” ST F’ s assistant inspector general of police (AIG) Rashpal Singh, superintendent of police (SP) Ti lak Raj, deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Davinder Singh and heavy police force were present during the operation. Three police personals identified as inspector A run S harm a, head constable Manpreet Singh and constable Satpal Singh were injured during the exchange of fire.The police have also recovered ₹34,87,040 Indian bills from Shammi’s possession.