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Extortion racket in Chandigarh: Bishnoi aide Deepu Banur, two others land in net
Deepu was formally arrested in the said case by the local police, following which the operation cell team led by SP Mridul, DSP (Operations) Jasbir Singh and inspector HS Sekhon, recovered two country made pistols and four live cartridges on his disclosure
Over a week after UT police busted an extortion racket active in the tricity with the arrest of two members of Deepu Banur gang, the gangster was brought to Chandigarh on production warrant from Patiala Jail on Tuesday.
Deepu was formally arrested in the said case by the local police, following which the operation cell team led by SP Mridul, DSP (Operations) Jasbir Singh and inspector HS Sekhon, recovered two country made pistols and four live cartridges on his disclosure.
After his one-day police remanded ended, he was produced before a court on Thursday and sent to 14-day judicial custody.
The operation cell had earlier claimed that Deepu, a close associate of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, was running the extortion racket from Patiala jail. Despite being behind the bars, Deepu had allegedly had been arranging weapons for his gang.
At the behest of Bishnoi, Deepu and his gang members made extortion threats to businessmen residing or operating in Chandigarh, Mohali, Panchkula and other parts of Haryana.
The operation cell had busted the extortion racket on July 18, with the arrest of Deepu’s cousin Ravi Kumar, alias Ravi Banur, 34, of Balmiki Basti, Banur, Mohali, and Som Dutt, 34, of Maloya Colony, Chandigarh.
Gang’s muscleman, financier held
Moreover, the cell on Thursday also arrested two accomplices of Deepu, identified as Amandeep Singh, alias Mani Topi, 35, of Badal Colony, Zirakpur, and Rakesh Kania of Nayagaon. An illegal country made pistol, along with a live cartridge, was recovered from Topi’s custody.
As per police, Topi is a close associate of Deepu and involved in multiple cases, including murder, extortion, narcotics and smuggling of illicit liquor. Topi, the muscleman of the group, collected and monitored the extortion collection, they said.
Rakesh on the other hand is one of the financiers of the group, as he used to provide ₹1 lakh monthly to Deepu. According to sources, Rakesh earlier ran a gambling circle in Bapu Dham Colony, Chandigarh, and was now operating from Nayagaon.
“In case, the financiers didn’t pay on time, Topi would use muscle power and make them talk to Deepu and another gangster Kali Shooter, also a close associate of Bishnoi, and extort money. He has been sent to two-day remand by a court,” said a cop.
Sources said Rakesh had also provided a Mahindra Thar to Deepu’s gang members who had fired gunshots at the house of liquor baron Arvind Singla’s brother in Sector 33 in May 2020.
