Fortnight after busting Lawrence-Rinda gang, Punjab Police arrest 13 members

Jalandhar rural police chase down remaining members of gang who are all history-sheeters involved in crimes such as murder, extortion and highway robbery

Two weeks after busting an interstate gang backed by gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi and Harwinder Singh Rinda, the Punjab Police have arrested its 13 more members, including nine sharpshooters.

A fortnight-long operation was on to arrest members of the gang backed by Lawrence Bishnoi and Harwinder Rinda. Those arrested are accused of heinous crimes such as murder.

Stating this in Chandigarh on Thursday, inspector general of police (IGP), headquarters, Dr Sukhchain Singh Gill said the Jalandhar rural police chased down the accused persons after a fortnight-long operation led by special teams.

Those arrested have been identified as Avtar, alias Mangal; Jobanpreet; Akashdeep; Harpreet, alias Kaka; Arshdeep; Lovjit; and Resham, alias Bao (all residents of Tarn Taran); Gurpreet, alias Ghumma Shooter; Bobby, alias Baba; and Sonu, alias Pula (Ferozepur); Gurpreet, alias Gopi; and Harman Kalsi (Jalandhar); and Balwinder, alias Billa (Kapurthala). The police also recovered 13 sophisticated weapons along with 18 cartridges from them.

The IG said that after the arrest of 11 members of the gang on June 29, the Jalandhar rural police had been working on leads to arrest the remaining members of the gang. All arrested are history-sheeters and facing cases of heinous crime in Ludhiana, Amritsar, Ferozepur, Tarn Taran, Jalandhar, Khanna, Mohali, and Patiala.

The group was active in most districts in Punjab for four years and the accused were involved in murders, dacoity, extortion and highway robbery. “After busting this gang, the Punjab Police have thwarted at least five murders and seven dacoities and robberies,” said Gill.

Jalandhar rural SSP Swapan Sharma said that the gang was being operated by Ghumma and Gopi, associated with Markas, alias Massa, who has been taking directions from Jaggu Bhagwanpuria and Lawrence Bishnoi. Massa, a resident of Ferozepur, is in jail with 18 criminal cases against him.

The SSP said Gopi and Jobanpreet, who have seven criminal cases against them, were planning to eliminate three members of the Bambiha-Pinda gang. A recce was executed and weapons were procured from an arms supplier from Madhya Pradesh.

Resham, alias Bao, and Gurpreet, alias Ghumma Shooter, who also have seven criminal cases against them, were planning to kill two members from the rival Bambiha-Gounder gang. The police are now on the trail of those who provided them financial and logistic support besides the arms suppliers from Madhya Pradesh.