Mohali cops gun down carjacker in Naina Devi encounter
MOHALI/SHIMLA: A 22-year-old alleged gangster from Gurdaspur was killed and two others were arrested in an encounter with the Punjab police in Naina Devi town in Himachal’s Bilaspur district bordering the state in the early hours of Saturday, police said.
The man killed was identified as Samuel Masih alias Sunny, Bilaspur superintendent of police Ashok Kumar said, adding that five criminals had snatched a Hyundai Verna sedan from a person at gunpoint in Mohali district, and thus police chased them. When the team reached close to them near the PWD rest house in Naina Devi area, one of the criminals opened fire.
MOHALI/SHIMLA: A 22-year-old alleged gangster from Gurdaspur was killed and two others were arrested in an encounter with the Punjab police in Naina Devi town in Himachal Pradesh’s Bilaspur district bordering the state in the early hours of Saturday, police said.
The man killed was identified as Samuel Masih alias Sunny, Bilaspur superintendent of police Ashok Kumar said, adding that five criminals had snatched a Hyundai Verna sedan from a person at gunpoint in Mohali district, and thus police chased them. When the police team reached close to them near the PWD rest house in Naina Devi area, one of the criminals opened fire at them upon being spotted, police said. “The police team retaliated, in which one of the criminals sustained serious injuries,” said the officer.
Masih was taken to a hospital in Anandpur Sahib, where he succumbed to his injuries.
Mohali senior superintendent of police Kuldeep Singh Chahal and other police officials reached the spot of the encounter. The SP said several cases were already registered against these men at various police stations of Punjab. Police in Mohali said Masih and his four accomplices fired at a businessman and snatched his Verna car on the Landran-banur road near Santemajra in Mohali on Friday night.
After the encounter, police arrested his aides Amanpreet of Morinda and Goldi Masih of Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur and recovered the snatched Verna along with two .30-bore pistols and cartridges. Two of his other aides — Sanju of Moga and Varun Sood of Morinda — managed to escape. Later on Saturday, Sood and his brother were rounded up from Rupnagar, police said.
SNATCHING STARTED IT
The car (UP-37H-7272) is owned by Rituraj Singh, a businessman who was visiting Kharar to meet his brother-in-law Navneet Singh, who works in a private company.
Navneet told police that he along with Rituraj had gone out for dinner at 11.30pm on Friday and Navneet was driving the vehicle. When they reached near a marriage palace, a white Maruti Ritz intercepted them.
“Five men stepped out of the vehicle; two brandishing guns,” Navneet told the police. “They started arguing with me over driving on the wrong side and asked me to step out. As we stepped out of the vehicle, one of them fired at us. They then sped away in our vehicle.” Navneet immediately called the police.
TRACK AND CHASE
Senior cops, including DSP (city) Ramandeep and crime investigation agency (CIA) in-charge Tarlochan Singh, reached the spot and started investigations. “We traced the vehicle as it passed through toll plazas,” said Mohali SSP Chahal, who led the operation. “We chased them up to Naina Devi. They fired at us near the PWD rest house, upon which we retaliated,” he claimed.
Security cameras installed at the Rupnagar toll plaza registered the movement of the stolen Verna with a changed number plate passing through. Mobile phone of the victim too had fallen in the car which was switched off near Anandpur Sahib, police sources said.
Officials in Himachal police said GPS in the vehicle helped trace it, though Mohali police said CCTV footage of toll plaza as well as description of the accused helped them zero in on them. When a team of DSP Ramandeep Singh and inspector Tarlochan Singh reached Naina Devi, they saw the stolen Verna car in the parking of the bus stand and the five men having food at a dhaba nearby. The firing started as the five men spotted cops and opened fire, it is alleged.
The Mohali SSP said the men had cases of robbery and snatching registered against them in Gurdaspur, Kharar and Himachal
Pradesh. On Navneet’s statement, a case under sections 395 (dacoity) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under various sections of the Arms Act was registered.
As Punjab police’s midnight encounter moved into Bilaspur district, Himachal Pradesh police were unaware about Punjab police’s chase. SP Ashok Kumar said Masih was killed when Punjab police fired in self-defence.
The team of Himachal police reached the spot after the encounter was over.
Local police also registered a case against the Masih and two others under section 307 (attempt to murder) of IPC.
Masih’s body was brought to Bilaspur hospital for autopsy from Anandpur Sahib on Saturday afternoon but in the absence of forensic experts at Bilaspur, the body has now been sent to Mandi for postmortem. Police had cordoned off the road leading to Naina Devi temple from bus stand in the morning; however, the traffic was restored later.