LUDHIANA JAIL INMATE BOOKED FOR RUNNING ARMS RACKET

LUDHIANA: A Ludhiana Central Jail inmate, who is facing trial in a murder case, has been booked for allegedly running an illegal weapons racket from behind the bars, the Punjab Police’s crime investigation agency (CIA) said on Tuesday.

According to police, the suspect — identified as Rohan Kumar — issued instructions to an aide to procure an illegal weapon, via a mobile phone. Efforts are on to bring him on production warrants to question him and find the motive as well as the source of the weapon, said inspector Beant Juneja, in-charge, CIA staff-2, Ludhiana.

Probe into Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala’s murder has revealed that how gangsters are running operations from jails in Punjab. Multiple seizures of mobile phones have been made from jails across the state since the high-profile murder on May 29. Jail minister Harjot Bains has promised to make all prisons free of mobile phones within the next six months and warned of strict action against erring jail officials.

The present case came to the fore after the CIA staff, Ludhiana, arrested 21-year-old Rahul Thapar following a tip-off, and recovered an illegal .32 bore pistol and two bullets from his possession.

During questioning, Rahul allegedly told police that he received a call from Rohan for collecting the weapon and bullets from a person near the Ludhiana interstate bus terminal, and keep them with him until the next call. Inspector Juneja said that Rahul is a drug addict with no past criminal record, and Rohan is lodged in jail for the past two years after committing a murder.

Earlier, in September 2021, a team of the special task force had busted a drug racket being operated by a Ludhiana jail inmate after the arrest of two peddlers and recovery of 945 grams of heroin.