4 members of Prema Lahoria-Vicky Gounder gang held after encounter in Jalandhar

Punjab Police on Saturday averted targeted killings in the state with the arrest of four operatives after an exchange of fire in Jalandhar

Jalandhar : Punjab Police on Saturday averted targeted killings in the state with the arrest of four operatives after an exchange of fire in Jalandhar.

Punjab Police on Saturday averted targeted killings in the state with the arrest of four operatives after an exchange of fire in Jalandhar.

Director general of police Gaurav Yadav said in a post on his social media platform X that police also recovered six pistols following the operation.

“In a major breakthrough, Jalandhar commissionerate police averted planned target killings with the arrest of four operatives of the Prema Lahoriya -Vicky Gounder gang after an exchange of fire,” Yadav said, adding that six pistols were recovered after the encounter.

Police said based on reliable inputs, the suspects were intercepted while planning the crime at Abadpura. They were travelling in a blue XUV 700 SUV with (PB-08-FF-9492).

The accused have been identified Naveeen Saini, Neeraj Kapoor, Kishan Bali and Vinod Joshi, all residents of Jalandhar.

Police said the six .32-bore) pistols and 26 cartridges were seized during the operation.

“With these arrests, the police have effectively prevented two contract killings,” police said.

A total of 21 cases are pending against Saini and six against Kapoor at Jalandhar, Mohali, Patiala and Hoshiarpur whereas no criminal background of other two gangsters has been traced so far, the police said.

Harjinder Singh Bhullar, alias Vicky Gounder, and his aide Prema Lahoriya, were shot dead in an encounter with the police at a village near Muktsar on the Punjab-Rajasthan border in January 2018.