Himachal youth who threatened to avenge Gounder’s death held
SHIMLA: The Himachal Pradesh police arrested a local drug peddler on Tuesday for flaunting his picture with a gun on his Facebook account and threatening the cops to avenge gangster Vicky Gounder’s death, who was killed during an encounter with the Punjab Police on January 26.
“The police arrested Anuj Sharma alias Vicky, 24, and booked him in a case of intimidation,” Sirmaur superintendent of police (SP) Rohit Maalpani said.
The accused had claimed to be a sharpshooter and posted a picture on Facebook along with an assault rifle. He also threatened to kill the policemen who killed Vicky Gounder in the post.
The SP said that Sharma is already facing charges in several cases under the (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) NDPS Act.
After an alert from the Punjab Police’s intelligence unit, the Himachal police swung into action and traced his location and arrested him. Sharma was recently arrested by the police in a drug peddling case and was lodged in Nahan jail.
Sharma also posted pictures on his social media accounts from prison. “We are trying to figure out how and when the pictures were clicked,” said the SP.
Sharma’s Facebook profile has pictures of him posing with an INSAS rifle in his hand. So far, the investigation revealed that the constable who was posted on VVIP duty at Nahan’s circuit house had allowed him to pose with the rifle.
The police said further inquiry has been marked against the constable, besides launching a probe to ascertain the security arrangements in prison where Sharma was lodged. The police are also investigating whether Anuj had links with slain gangster Gounder.