3 gangsters involved in Amritsar ex-sarpanch murder arrested
Arrested by Punjab Police from Pali in Rajasthan, four others nabbed too
CHANDIGARH : The Punjab Police have arrested seven accused, including three most wanted gangsters, involved in several heinous crimes, including the recent murder of Gurdeep Singh, former sarpanch of Umarpura village in Amritsar district.
Director general of police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta said the police were on the lookout for the three gangsters for the past over two months and they were arrested from Sojat in Pali district of Rajasthan on Sunday, on the basis of a tip-off given by the local police.
The gangsters have been identified as Harman Bhullar of Umarpura, Amritsar; Balraj Singh Buri of Basantkotia village in Gurdaspur, and Harwinder Sandhu of Pandori Waraich, Amritsar. They are members of a criminal gang operated by Pavittar Singh, a gangster now based in the US.
Former sarpanch Gurdeep Singh, 55, was shot dead by a group of armed assailants led by Bhullar, when he was returning home from a village gurdwara on January 1, 2020.
Sandhu had claimed responsibility for the killing of Mandeep Singh, 26, of Pandori Waraich village of Amritsar due to personal enmity.
The DGP said the police have seized one .30 bore pistol, two .32 bore pistols, one Springfield rifle and 18 cartridges, one .12 bore gun with 40 live cartridges, two .315 bore pistols, two cars (one Hyundai i20 and one Swift) and three fake Aadhaar cards from their possession.
Gupta said Pavittar, who hails from Chaure village of Gurdaspur, leads the Chaura Madhra gang. Husandeep, alias Husna from Shahbad, is one of the close associates of Pavittar and is also living in the US.
The entire gang is involved in many cases of extortion, murder, attempt to murder and rioting, he said.
GANGSTERS KEPT CHANGING THEIR IDENTITY: DGP
The DGP said that while on the run, the gangsters have been changing their identities and other credentials wherever they went. Bhullar, Buri and Sandhu had arranged fake Aadhaar Cards under the names of Mangal Singh, Ram Dev and Mohinder Singh, respectively. Bhullar had also managed to get a fake passport issued in the name of Harman Singh from the regional passport office, Ambala, with a fake address of Pehowa, Kurukshetra, Haryana.
The operation was led by Organised Crime Control Unit (OCCU) DSP Bikramjit Singh Brar under the supervision of Vikram Jeet Duggal, SSP Amritsar (rural), and Gurmeet Singh Chauhan, AIG, intelligence (OCCU).
The DGP said the police forces of four states of Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh worked in close coordination in the operation ever since the chase, which started from Amritsar on January 28.
After a chase of over 1500 km, the triowere apprehended from Sojat on Sunday, the DGP claimed.
The breakthrough regarding their movement came when one Ranbir Singh was admitted to the PGI in Chandigarh on February 23 after accidentally shooting himself with a country-made weapon.
The subsequent investigations led to revelation of the weapon being provided by Bhullar and his associates through Harry Bajwa of Chandigarh.
Bajwa, who provided a house to the accused in Chandigarh where they stayed two months, has also been arrested.
The arrest of the three criminals further led to arrest of two of their associates — Gurpreet Singh and Gurwinder Singh — from Uttarakhand.