Gangster Dilpreet arranged weapons used to kill Bishnoi’s aide outside Chandigarh mall: SSP

He allegedly procured a large consignment of arms and ammunition from Madhya Pradesh before being arrested in a police encounter at Sector 43, Chandigarh, in July 2018

After initial denial, gangster Dilpreet Singh Dhahan, alias Baba, 28, has admitted to have supplied weapons to eliminate members of the rival Lawrence Bishnoi gang, Chandigarh Police said on Thursday.

During his sustained interrogation into the Gurlal Brar murder case, Dilpreet — who was brought to Chandigarh from the Sangrur jail on production warrants on November 6 — reportedly told police that he had procured “a large consignment of arms and ammunition from Madhya Pradesh” before being arrested in a police encounter at Sector 43, Chandigarh, in July 2018.

Brar, 26, a close aide of Lawrence Bishnoi and a former student leader, was gunned down by bike-borne men outside a mall in Chandigarh’s Industrial Area past midnight on October 11. Hours after the incident, slain gangster Davinder Bambiha’s group had taken responsibility.

After Bambiha’s encounter in 2016, Dilpreet along with Sukhpreet, alias Budha, had been running the gang. With both in jail, their accomplice Gaurav Patial, alias Lucky, is now calling the shots from Armenia.

Running an extortion racket in the tricity area, the Bambiha group are at loggerheads with Lawrence Bishnoi and Sampat Nehra gang, both of whom are also lodged in different jails.

“The Bishnoi gang had been extorting businessmen, from whom the Bambiha group had been collecting protection money. This pitted the two gangs against each other,” said Kuldeep Singh Chahal, senior superintendent of police, Chandigarh, adding that Dilpreet supplied weapons to his gang members to eliminate the rivals and “these were used” for the purpose.

Dilpreet, Sukhpreet on same track

Both Dilpreet and Sukhpreet, who too has been brought on production warrants, have named Brar’s shooters as Neeraj Gupta, alias Chaska, and Ajay, alias Maan, alias Mani, said Gurmukh Singh, deputy superintendent of police (DSP, east).

“Their possible hideouts are being raided. The duo, who belong Jaiton in Faridkot, are also wanted by Punjab Police in many murder cases registered in various districts,” said the DSP.

Both Dilpreet and Sukhpreet have reportedly admitted that Brar was killed on the directions of Gaurav Patial and another gang member Vinay Deora. The main motive was to avenge the murder of their associate Lavi Deora, who was allegedly killed by Bishnoi’s gang at a fair in Faridkot’s Kotkapura in 2017, in which Brar had reportedly played an active role. Lavi was Vinay’s younger brother.

Sukhpreet was brought to Chandigarh from the Sangrur jail on production warrants, to interrogate him in another case, pertaining to the murder of bouncer-turned-financier Surjit Singh in Sector 38 in March this year.

Both Dilpreet and Sukhpreet were produced in court on Thursday. While Dilpreet has been sent to judicial custody, Sukhpreet’s police remand has been extended by a day.

More weapons recovered

On disclosure’s made by Dilpreet, police have recovered four illegal weapons.

A .32 bore pistol was recovered from one Gurdeep Singh, alias Deepa, of Raipur village in Ropar, who was arrested at a naka in the Industrial Area on November 9, following information provided by Dilpreet. Police said Gurdeep, who hails from Dilpreet’s adjoining village, is into mining and had taken the weapon from the gangster.

Two .32 bore pistols and one countrymade weapon were recovered from near a drain in the Industrial Area, where they had been hidden by Dilpreet, said police.

Police said the weapons were kept for further distribution to the gang member, as and when required by them to kill active members of the rival group. Separate FIRs have been registered.