Gangster Masti’s close aide held
: The Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) wing of Amritsar police have arrested two persons, including a close aide of gangster Rajat Malhotra alias Karan Masti, after a gunfight near Ganda Nala, Fatehpur, on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday.
This comes a day after Masti’s dead body was found in a car in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.
The arrested accused have been identified as gangster Amanpreet Singh alias Rinka and his aide Rohit Sharma alias Gora of Fateh Singh Colony in Amritsar.
As per the police, the gangster Rinka received a bullet injury during the encounter and has been admitted to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital. Sources said around 10 shots were fired during the encounter.
However, no policemen received any bullet injuries.
The police commissioner SS Srivastva said around a dozen persons, including Karan Masti and Rinka, were booked by Amritsar police in Congress councillor Gurdeep Singh Pehlwan’s murder case and Guru Bazaar gold heist.
The councillor was shot dead by some armed men when he was working out in the Gol Bagh area in June and some armed men had looted jewellery worth ₹6 crore from a shop in Guru Bazaar in September.
ARRESTED WHILE COMING FROM TARN TARAN
The police chief said, “A team of senior police officers under the supervision of deputy commissioner of police (DCP-investigation) Jagmohan Singh was formed to arrest the accused in both the cases. The team was keeping an eye on the accused besides making several raids at their hideouts.”
He said, “On Sunday, CIA’s inspector Vavinder Mahajan received a tip-off that Rinka along with his aide Gora were coming from Tarn Taran to Amritsar. We had blocked all roads from Tarn Taran to Amritsar with barricades.”
He said, “Inspector Vavinder Mahajan and his team was present at Ganda Nala, Fatehpur. At around 2am, Rinka and Gora passed on their motorcycle when police indicated them to stop but instead of making the halt, the duo opened fire at police team. The team also retaliated during which Rinka received a bullet injury while Gora surrendered before police.”
He said they have also recovered two pistols — one .32 bore pistol and another of .315 bore pistol with seven live cartridges from the accused.
As per the police, Rinka is a close aide of Karan Masti and a gangster.
As per the police, Delhi police have also arrested two other members of the same gang who had a plan to commit another crime in Amritsar before Diwali.
Srivastva also said two aides of Rinka and members of the same gang have also been arrested by Delhi police.
The arrested men have been identified as Deep Gill and Rakshit. Delhi police have also recovered arms and ammunition from the duo.
He claimed these members of the gang had a plan to make a ‘big crime’ in the holy city before Diwali, which has been thwarted.
NO BULLET MARK ON MASTI
Police chief Srivastva said, “The body had no bullet mark. Preliminary investigation revealed that Masti might be killed by some other members of his gang. It has also been found that Masti was managing the looted jewellery which might be the main reason behind his killing.”
However, neither the Delhi police, UP police or the Amritsar police have recovered any part of the looted jewellery from the possession of the accused. He said the investigation is on to find the exact cause of Masti’s death.