Gounder, aides used stolen car to flee ahead of raid

MOGA:Gangster Vicky Gounder, one of the six criminals who fled the high-security Nabha jail in November last year, had reportedly used stolen a Hyundai Verna car to run away from Moga with his three accomplices before the police arrested his four other aides from an NRI’s house at Dhudike village on Sunday.

Those accompanied Gounder have been identified as Amandeep Singh Dhotian, who had escaped from Nabha jail with him, and two gangsters, Harry Chatha and Prema Lahoria.

The Punjab Counter Intelligence Team (PCIT) on Sunday had arrested jailbreak mastermind Gurpreet Singh Sekhon and his three aides — his cousin Manvir Sekhon of Makhu village; Rajwinder Singh Raja, alias Sultan, of Mangewal village in Moga; gangster Kulwinder Sidana, brother of gangster Surinder Sidana — from a house at Dhudike village of Ajitwal town in Moga.

HAD ENTERED PUNJAB A DAY AFTER POLLING

A senior police official seeking anonymity said eight people were staying at the house of an NRI, Kultar Singh Goldy. They had come from Kota in Rajasthan on February 5, a day after voting for the Punjab assembly elections took place.

The stay at the house of Goldy was arranged by Gurwinder Singh Gori, former’s friend and a relative of Sekhon.

“After entering Punjab on February 5, they had stolen two Verna cars, one from Ludhiana on February 6 and another from Zira on February 8,” a police official said.

He said that Sekhon and his aides had decided to stay back at the house, while Gounder and his aides left a day or two days before the raid in the car stolen from Zira.

Sources said before the arrest of a Nabha jail escapee Kulpreet Singh Neeta Deol, all the eight were staying at Indore in Madhya Pradesh (MP) from where the former was arrested and after that, all of them fled to Kota in Rajasthan.

Meanwhile, assistant inspector general (AIG), PCIT, Gurmeet Singh Chauhan, couldn’t be contacted for a comment despite repeated attempts by this correspondent.