6 members of Sukha Kahlwan gang held, firearms seized

POLICE RECOVERED 250GM INTOXICANT POWDER, TWO SHARP-EDGED WEAPONS AND A MARUTI ERTIGA CAR FROM THEM

JALANDHAR: Six members of the notorious Sukha Kahlwan gang wanted in cases of snatching, bank robbery and murder — were arrested on Thursday with firearms at a checkpoint in the Lambra area of Jalandhar district.

One of their accomplices managed to escape from the spot, police said.

Police recovered two 7.65 bore pistols and as many .315 bore country-made pistols with two cartridges, 250gm intoxicant powder, two sharp-edged weapons and a Maruti Ertiga car from them.

Those arrested were identified as Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi Nizzar (24) of Jairampur village in Kapurthala; Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi Shooter (17) of Ghorewaha village, Rajinder Kumar alias Bangar (25) of Niarra village, Shehjad Chaudhary alias Chhota (20) of Mohalla Kamalpura, Avinash Kumar alias Sanju (27) of Mohalla Vijay Nagar, alll in Hoshiarpur district and Amit Kumar alias Kaku (19) of Mohalla Gazi Gulla in Jalandhar.

The one who fled from the spot was identified as Ranjit Singh alias Rannia of Purheera village in Hoshiarpur.

Addressing a press conference, Jalandhar senior superintendent of police (SSP) Navjot Singh Mahal said Gopi Nizzar was running the gang after Sukha Kahlwan’s murder in January 2015 and he was hatching a conspiracy to attack the rival Binni Guzzar gang members.

Binni is already behind the bars.

He said acting on a tip-off a police party was deployed at a checking point at Puara Puli in Lambra and the gangsters came in the Ertiga car from the Mand side.

“The gang is active and it was planning to loot a bank and an automated teller machine (ATM) . The gang kingpin, Gopi Nizzar, is also a main witness in the Sukha Kahlwan murder case. He used to bring a pistol from Bihar or Uttar Pradesh for ₹20,000 and then sold it in the local market at ₹80, 000 to ₹1 lakh,” the senior superintendent of police said.

Gopi Shooter, who was arrested on June 26 this year in a murder case, was released from juvenile home on bail after three months as he was a minor.

After his release, he joined the gang again.

A case under Sections 399 (making preparation to commit dacoity), 402 (assembling for purpose of committing dacoity) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 25 of the Arms Act was registered at the Lambra police station.