Inter-state gang busted in Rupnagar, 4 members arrested

ACTIVE IN PUNJAB, HP; WERE PLANNING TO AVENGE DEATH OF THEIR EXKINGPIN IN GANGWAR, SAY POLICE

RUPNAGAR: Rupnagar police on Monday claimed to have busted an interstate gang involved in murders and other serious crimes with the arrest of four of its members.

Rupnagar senior superintendent of police (SSP) Varinder Paul Singh said a police party led by Kiratpur Sahib station house officer (SHO) Kulbhushan Sharma had laid a naka at Bharatgarh on Sunday evening, when they got a tip-off that some gangsters armed with deadly weapons were hiding in bushes at Dhelawar village.

A joint team of the Kiratpur Sahib police station and crime investigation agency (CIA) staff raided the area and arrested the accused, who were allegedly planning to commit a crime.

They have been identified as Gutti gang kingpin Malkiat Singh, alias Malhi, of Morra village in Kiratpur Sahib; and his aides Ajay Kumar of Bilaspur district in Himachal Pradesh; Madan, alias Maddu, of Pinjore in Haryana; and Balbir Singh, alias Ballu, of Baddi in Himachal Pradesh.

Their accomplice, Gurvir Singh of Bilaspur, however, managed to escape.

Police recovered two .32 bore pistols, one .32 bore revolver, one .315 bore pistol, one .12 bore pistol and 21 live cartridges and an Maruti Alto car from the gangsters.

SSP Singh said Malhi is wanted in eight criminal cases registered at various places.

He said the gang, earlier led by Naresh Kumar, alias Gutti, of Bilaspur, committed crimes in Punjab and HP jointly with with one Dilpreet gang, which was involved in a murder at Bharatgarh on November 11 last year.

He said during the interrogation, the accused revealed that Gutti was killed in gangwar. They were allegedly planning to avenge it.

The four accused have been booked under Sections 399 (making preparation to commit dacoity) and 402 (assembling for purpose of committing dacoity) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) besides relevant sections of the Arms Act.