A day after an alleged gangster and a head constable of Punjab Police were injured in an encounter, the second accused was arrested after a long chase on Saturday, officials said.
Police said the second accused, identified as Ajay Pehalwan, was arrested after he fractured both his legs after jumping from a rooftop in an attempt to evade the police team.
On Friday night, a team of Amritsar police led-by assistant commissioner of police (ACP-north) Varinder Khosa had laid a trap near the Gumtala Chowk to nab Ajay Pehalwan and his associate Amar Kumar alias Bhunda. The accused opened fire, and the police team retaliated. In the encounter, head constable Gurjit Singh and Amar Kumar received bullet injuries. Amar Kumar was arrested on the spot, while Ajay Pehalwan managed to flee. Both Gurjit and Amar are under treatment, a police official said.
Addressing a press conference, commissioner of police (CP) Jaskaran Singh said, “A trader had received a threat call on December 22. The miscreants on the phone call had demanded ₹20 ransom from the trader. The next day, the accused fired aerial shots outside the trader’s house.”
“A team under the supervision of (ACP-north) Khosa was formed to nab the accused. The team through the scientific and technical investigation came to know about the identity of the accused and a trap was laid to arrest them. On Friday night, the accused had come near the Gumtala chowk to receive the ransom money,” the CP said.
{{/usCountry}}“A team under the supervision of (ACP-north) Khosa was formed to nab the accused. The team through the scientific and technical investigation came to know about the identity of the accused and a trap was laid to arrest them. On Friday night, the accused had come near the Gumtala chowk to receive the ransom money,” the CP said.
{{/usCountry}}The CP added, “The accused were asked to surrender, but they opened fire, and our team retaliated. One of the accused was nabbed while the other fled. One more team started chasing the accused, and he was arrested after a long chase.”
Accused Ajay Pehalwan’s both legs were fractured when he jumped from a rooftop trying to evade the chasing team. He too has been rushed to a hospital for his treatment,” police officials added.
The police commissioner said Ajay Pehalwan used to work as a bouncer in restaurants before starting the ransom racket. “We have recovered two .32 bore pistols from both the accused. The pistol recovered from Ajay is a licenced one,” he said.
He further said their teams were working to ascertain if the arrested accused were working for a particular gang. “We will also interrogate the accused to find if they had extorted money from other innocent people in the past,” he added.
A case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including attempted murder, and the relevant sections of the Arms Act, has been registered against the accused at the Majitha Road police station.
Sources said one of the arrested accused had already been facing a case registered under the NDPS Act.