A day after the Mohali unit of State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) busted an extortion module after nabbing a 19-year-old Chandigarh resident, police arrested another person in the case for allegedly harbouring the gang members in a flat in TDI Wellington City, Sector 117.
Police have arrested Sukhwinder Singh, 34, alias Sukha of Jhujhar Nagar, Mohali, who has been booked under Sections 212 (harbouring offender) and 216 (harbouring offender who has escaped from custody or whose apprehension has been ordered) of Indian Penal Code by SSOC, Mohali.
On Sunday, police had arrested Vishal Kumar of Maloya in Chandigarh, who worked in a local salon, from TDI Wellington City, Sector-117, along with a .32 bore pistol and two live cartridges from his possession, when he was going to meet his accomplice Kashmir Singh alias Bobby, who is on the run. Sources said that Sukhwinder helped in harbouring Bobby in TDI, Sector 117.
Police investigation has revealed that Vishal is a distant relative of Bobby of Patiala and had recently joined him in operating an extortion module.
“Vishal Kumar had recently joined hands with his relative Kashmir Singh alias Bobby of Patiala, who was in touch with Lawrence through a Mohali-based gangster, who is also one of the key shooters of the Bishnoi gang and currently lodged in Patiala Jail. After Lawrence made calls to his targets, including the club owners or other businessmen in the tricity, Kashmir Singh used to make threat calls to them following the directions of Bishnoi. Meanwhile, Vishal who had recently joined the gang, was tasked to hurl stones at the house of the targets,” a police officer privy to the investigation said.
{{/usCountry}}“Vishal Kumar had recently joined hands with his relative Kashmir Singh alias Bobby of Patiala, who was in touch with Lawrence through a Mohali-based gangster, who is also one of the key shooters of the Bishnoi gang and currently lodged in Patiala Jail. After Lawrence made calls to his targets, including the club owners or other businessmen in the tricity, Kashmir Singh used to make threat calls to them following the directions of Bishnoi. Meanwhile, Vishal who had recently joined the gang, was tasked to hurl stones at the house of the targets,” a police officer privy to the investigation said.
{{/usCountry}}Another officer added that Bobby was residing in a flat in TDI, Sector 117 following which raids were made to nab him but Vishal was arrested there.
Earlier on Sunday, divulging details about the modus operandi, AIG Kapur said that Kashmir alias Bobby used to make extortion and threat calls to affluent persons, including owners of night clubs and bars in Chandigarh, Mohali and other adjoining areas, while, Vishal used to intimidate them to pay up the extortion money.
Preliminary investigations have revealed that accused Vishal Kumar and Kashmir alias Bobby had also attacked the house of the owner of “SKULL” club, Mohali on May 11, to extort money from him, he added.
A senior police officer, on the condition of anonymity, said that teams are raiding the possible hideouts of Bobby. “We will nab Bobby soon, after which we would be able to ascertain who all were their targets and how many businessmen had they already targeted. A Mohali-based shooter of Bishnoi, who was involved in a number of criminal cases including murders, attempt-to-murder, extortion; was recently brought here on a production warrant from a Punjab jail. He revealed that Bobby was in touch with Bishnoi and followed his directions,” an officer stated.
Police on Sunday booked Vishal under Arms Act at SSOC police station, Mohali.