DERA MAN’S MURDER: UAPA INVOKED AGAINST ALL ACCUSED
Pardeep is the seventh dera follower to have been killed since the sacrilege incidents of 2015 in the Faridkot district
: Faridkot police on Wednesday invoked a stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against all the accused in the murder of Dera Sacha Sauda follower Pardeep Kataria in Faridkot in which the fugitive gangster Goldy Brar is the alleged mastermind.
Faridkot SSP Rajpal Singh said the interrogation of one accused, Bhola Singh, revealed the terror angle in the case. “Bhola, a murder accused, in connivance with Goldy Brar and others had planned to strike terror by targeting a particular section of people,” he added.
BATHINDA : Faridkot police on Wednesday invoked a stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against all the accused in the murder of Dera Sacha Sauda follower Pardeep Kataria in Faridkot in which the fugitive gangster Goldy Brar is the alleged mastermind.
Faridkot senior superintendent of police (SSP) Rajpal Singh said custodial interrogation of one accused, Bhola Singh, revealed the terror angle in the case.
“Bhola, a murder accused, in connivance with Goldy Brar and others had planned to strike terror by targeting a particular section of people. Questioning of various accused corroborated the terror plot, including targeted killings in a highly organised manner and extortion. We are making an in-depth probe to unearth more links of the entire chain,” the SSP said. Pardeep is the seventh Dera follower to have been killed since the sacrilege incidents of 2015 in the Faridkot district. The targeted attack came six days after Shiv Sena (Taksali) leader Sudhir Suri was murdered during a protest in a busy Amritsar market on November 4.
Both victims had Punjab Police protection yet they were fatally shot. The back-to-back killings gave ammo to the Opposition to mount a scathing attack on the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government, alleging a breakdown of the law-and-order machinery in the state.
Bhola is married to the sister of Manpreet Singh Manni, one of the six-shooters, who had fatally attacked Kataria at Faridkot’s Kotkapura town on November 10. “Bhola emerged as the communication link between Brar and shooters Manni and Bhupinder Singh Goldy. Investigation revealed that Brar had contacted Bhola for the execution of the murder plan. Bhola recommended his brother-in-law Manni for the task, who later came in touch with Brar. Manni then involved his friend Bhupinder in the plan,” the SSP added.
According to the investigators, Bhola was lodged in the Faridkot jail for the past year in a case of murder and an attempt to murder a Dera follower Shakti Singh, and while in jail he managed to contact Brar, who is stated to be overseas, hatched terror conspiracy.
“Bhola has criminal antecedents and he was in touch with people in organised crime for the last several years,” said SSP Rajpal Singh.
Police have yet to solve the puzzle of how he was able to have access to a phone in the Faridkot district prison. Dera follower Kataria, 38, an accused in the 2015 Bargari sacrilege case, was out on bail at the time of his murder.
Another accused held
Police arrested Pawandeep Singh of Jaitu town of Faridkot on Tuesday and recovered 50 live cartridges.
Police officials said he was also involved in the Kataria murder conspiracy.
After Bhola, Pawandeep is the 10th person arrested so far in the sensational murder.
Others arrested include shooters Manpreet Singh Manni, Bhupinder Singh Goldy, Jitender Jeetu, Ramjan Khan alias Raj Hooda, and two juveniles.
Vicky Chauhan and Swaran Singh were arrested on November 19 and are accused of providing logistic support to the shooters.
Bhola, a murder accused, in connivance with Goldy Brar and others had planned to strike terror by targeting a particular section of people
RAJPAL SINGH, SSP, Faridkot