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Chandigarh: Sector-32 pharmacy firing accused held after shootout
The two alleged shooters were shot in the legs, while their accomplice, a taxi driver, was taken into custody from the spot
Around 6 am on Wednesday when half of Chandigarh was fast asleep and the other half was preparing for the day ahead, the crime branch caught three men, allegedly involved in the Sector 32 pharmacy firing case, following a brief encounter near the Sector 39 grain market.
This was the first such encounter reported in the city after 2018, when gangster Dilpreet Baba was nabbed in a similar fashion in a joint operation by Punjab and Chandigarh Police near the Inter State Bus Terminus, Sector 43.
In Wednesday morning’s encounter, the two alleged shooters, Rahul, 30, Ricky, 41, were shot in the legs in retaliatory police fire, while their accomplice Preet, 32, was taken into custody from the spot, police officials said.
With this, the total arrests in the pharmacy firing case stands at four. Earlier on Monday, the crime branch had arrested Rahul Bisht, 32, a private laboratory owner, who is the main conspirator in the case, as per the police. They said that Bisht had roped in gangsters to carry out the attack at Sewak Pharmacy, Sector 32-D, on January 15. Tanish Luthra, the son of the pharmacy owner, who was present at the spot had narrowly escaped the bullets, which shattered the glass counter. Later, an audio clip had also gone viral on social media, in which Saba Gobindgarh, a member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, was purportedly heard demanding ₹2-crore extortion. Saba is hiding in one of the European countries, police said.
Accused also shot at Jalandhar property dealer, tried to snatch car in Dera Bassi
As per the crime branch staff, they had a tip-off about the trio entering Chandigarh in a silver-coloured WagonR car. Around 6 am, a car fitting the description was spotted near the grain market. Upon seeing the police vehicle, the accused tried to steer towards Maloya but ended up ramming into an electric pole. Rahul and Ricky tried to escape by firing at the police party. One of the bullets struck assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Sanjay but he escaped unhurt as he was wearing a bulletproof jacket. One bullet also hit the police’s Scorpio vehicle. Cops said the accused fired nearly six to seven rounds at the police, using a .32 mm bore weapon.
In defence, the cops too opened fire and Rahul and Ricky were shot in the legs. The duo was shifted to Government Multi Specialty Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16, for treatment while their accomplice Preet was taken into custody from the spot.
Deputy superintendent of police (DSP, crime branch) Dhiraj Kumar said after the pharmacy attack, Rahul and Ricky went to Jalandhar to carry out an attack on a property dealer, Sarbtej Singh, on the instructions of Saba and Bisht. They returned to Mohali on January 18 and tried to snatch a four-wheeler at the Jawaharpura petrol pump in Derabassi, Mohali. They had threatened the car owner with a pistol but timely intervention by the petrol pump staff forced them to flee. After this, they again went to Jalandhar, where they fired three rounds at the Jalandhar property dealer’s Fortuner before returning to Mohali again.
Alleged shooters were drug addicts, given ₹30K for the job
Bisht, who is an MSc holder from Himachal Pradesh, told police that he was associated with 10-12 laboratories for blood sample testing. At some point, he had gone to collect a blood sample in Mohali when came in touch with Saba. The two remained in contact over Signal, a messaging app known for its strong encryption and privacy. Both hatched a conspiracy to extort money from affluent people with Bisht acting as a ground worker, providing information and contact numbers of potential targets, and Saba making extortion calls from abroad.
Speaking about how the pharmacy firing was planned, DSP Kumar said Bisht had roped in the accused, Rahul, who had earlier worked at his laboratory, and his friend Ricky, residents of Hallomajra and Vikas Nagar, Mauli Jagran, respectively. Rahul and Ricky were drug addicts and needed the money. As per their disclosure statement, gangster Saba had provided them a pistol, two magazines and ₹30,000 for the job, at Rajpura. They revealed that the Activa used in the Sector-32 firing was stolen. After the firing, they had allegedly met Bisht and Preet in Sector 46, where they were waiting in a WagonR car.
As per the police, Bisht also worked as a drug peddler and 46.62 gm heroin, 392 gm opium, a country made pistol, two live cartridges and four empty cartridges were recovered from him.
Rahul is a Class 12 passout, hailing from Uttar Pradesh. Ricky, also known as Deval Sharma, is a Class 5 passout and works as a sofa maker. Preet alias Kulwinder Singh is a taxi driver who has studied up till Class 8 and hails from Mohali.
