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Shootout after hot chase leaves drug dealer dead in Tarn Taran
The deceased was identified as Jora Singh, while the arrested accused is Kuldeep Singh of Kot Ise Khan in Moga district, the police added.
One person was killed while his accomplice was arrested after an encounter with Tarn Taran police near Usma village situated on the Amritsar-Bathinda highway on Friday night, police said.
The deceased was identified as Jora Singh, while the arrested accused is Kuldeep Singh of Kot Ise Khan in Moga district, the police added.
According to police, they had information that two unidentified persons were coming from the Harike side for the smuggling of heroin, opium. The police have reportedly recovered a firearm and ₹1.70 lakh cash after the encounter. However, the police have not disclosed if any drug was recovered from the accused.
According to Kot Ise Khan station house officer (SHO) Iqbal Hussain, Jora Singh was facing a case registered under the Excise Act in 2017.
“Jora was nabbed for the smuggling of 101 cartons of illicit liquor. So far, we have not found any other criminal case against him,” the SHO said. The arrested accused Kuldeep Singh was also facing a case registered under the NDPS Act after 5kg of opium was recovered from him and one more person, the SHO added. Kuldeep and Jora had been out on bail.
The accused managed to escape the chasing police thrice before an encounter took place near Chambal village, where Jora was killed. His aide Kuldeep managed to take the deceased to Tarn Taran civil hospital where the cops arrested the accused.
Chohla Sahib station house officer (SHO), sub-inspector (SI) Vinodh Sharma in a letter to Tarn Taran civil hospital’s senior medical officer (SMO) for post-mortem examination, said a barricading was installed outside Jalsa restaurant near Marhana village on Friday night.
Two private cars and a government vehicle were stationed at the naka point to arrest the accused, who were coming from the Harike side on a Hyundai Verna car, Sharma’s letter reads.
“We tried to stop the accused car, but they tried to run over the police team and fled after hitting the barricade. Our personnel chased the car and also alerted the police towards where the cars were going. Again our personnel managed to block the road, but the drivers managed to flee towards Tarn Taran side,” he said in his letter.
He further said, “Our men again chased the accused car. The car finally came to a stop near Usma village on a link road leading to Chambal village. When I tried to lay siege, one of the two persons in the car opened fire towards us with an intention to kill. In the meantime, our Punjab Home Guard jawan Lovepreet Singh opened fire using his AK-47 rifle towards the tyres of the Verna car. During the firing, Jora Singh was killed.”
Sources said after fleeing from there, Kuldeep admitted injured Jora to Tarn Taran hospital giving an excuse that they were attacked by some robbers. However, Tarn Taran police, after getting the information about them, arrested Kuldeep.
There is also no statement from Tarn Taran police with regards to any drug seizure or if any policeman was injured in the firing.
Tarn Taran senior superintendent of police (SSP) Gurmeet Singh Chauhan and other officials related to the case didn’t respond to the repeated calls.
A board of doctors will conduct the post-mortem of the deceased at Tarn Taran civil hospital. A case under various Sections of the NDPS Act and the Arms Act was registered against both the accused at Chohla Sahib police station.
