Police on Tuesday arrested gangster Shubham Singh, wanted for the murders of Hindu right-wing leader Vipan Sharma and Amritsar councillor Gurdeep Pehalwan, along with his accomplice Manpreet Singh alias Manna in Fatehgarh Churian block of Gurdaspur district after a 10-kilometre chase and exchange of at least 130 rounds.
Three .32 bore pistols, a revolver and a rifle and a large number of bullets besides a bullet-proof jacket, a first from a gangster in the state, were recovered from them, the police said.
While Vipan Sharma, a Hindu Sangharsh Sena leader, gunned down, in broad daylight in the Bharat Nagar locality of Amritsar on October 30, 2017, Gurdeep Pehalwan was shot dead in a wrestling arena on June 3 last year.
Claiming the gangsters’ arrest a ‘big catch’, inspector general of police (IGP border range Amritsar) SPS Parmar said at a press conference, “Shubham is a category-A gangster, who is involved in 21 criminal cases registered against him in various parts of the state.”
A case under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 392 (punishment for robbery) of the Indian Penal Code, and Sections 25, 27, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act was registered against them at the Fatehgarh Churrian police station, he said.
“Batala senior superintendent of police (SSP) Opinderjeet Singh Ghuman got a tip-off that some gangsters were moving in the Fatehgarh Churrian area following which more than 10 police teams set up nakas (checking points) at various places. A police team near Dadujodh village tried to stop a Hyundai i-20 coming from the Amritsar side but the car occupants instead of stopping the car opened fire on the cops,” the IGP said.
{{/usCountry}}“Batala senior superintendent of police (SSP) Opinderjeet Singh Ghuman got a tip-off that some gangsters were moving in the Fatehgarh Churrian area following which more than 10 police teams set up nakas (checking points) at various places. A police team near Dadujodh village tried to stop a Hyundai i-20 coming from the Amritsar side but the car occupants instead of stopping the car opened fire on the cops,” the IGP said.
{{/usCountry}}Parmar added that a team led by DSP Balbir Singh started following them and the gangsters fired more than 80 rounds on the police vehicles during the over 10-kilometre chase.
After a heavy exchange of fire, the occupants abandoned the car on the roadside and snatched a motorcycle from a passer-by and the police team the police overtook them at Pabbarali village and forced them to surrender, he further said.
SSP Ghuman said the police were on the trail of Shubham for the last several months. “He was spotted in Batala on a couple of occasions but he managed to hoodwink us every time,” he said.
Shubham is a resident of Friends Colony Amritsar while Manpreet is of Valipur village in Tarn Taran district.
A month before Vipan Sharma’s murder, Saraj, also involved in the case, and his accomplices had freed Shubham from police custody when he was being taken for a court hearing in Amritsar.