In a major breakthrough, the crime investigative agency (CIA) has arrested five associates of gangster Lakhbir Singh, alias Landa, the main conspirator of the RPG attack at the Punjab Police intelligence headquarters in Mohali.
According to police, the Canada-based, Punjab-origin gangster had sent the five men, all aged between 19 and 22, with seven automatic pistols, an AK-47 magazine, 45 cartridges and two SUVs to rob a bank in Kharar and later carry out killings in Punjab.
Two of them, Lovejeet Singh, alias Love, 20, and Akashdeep Singh, 21, hail from Tarn Taran’s Gandivind Dhattal and Harike Pattan villages; Paramvir Singh, 19, and Sunil Kumar, alias Bacchi, 22, are from Ludhiana’s Samrala area, while the fifth gang member is Gurjant Singh, 20, of Amloh, Fatehgarh Sahib.
A resident of Tarn Taran, Landa, who now operates from Canada, Landa was identified as the key conspirator in the May 9 attack on the Punjab Police intelligence headquarters.
A close associate of gangster-turned-terrorist Harvinder Singh Rinda, who operates from Pakistan, he reportedly provided the RPG, an AK-47 and logistics support to local gangsters for the attack.
“The same Landa provided weapons to his five aides to rob a Kharar bank at gunpoint and later carry out killings in Punjab, but we arrested them and foiled their plans. These gangsters were involved in spreading terror in Punjab by firing indiscriminately and executing serious crimes, such as robbery and extortion,” said Vivek Sheel Soni, senior superintendent of police (SSP), Mohali, while addressing mediapersons on Wednesday.
He detailed that the gangsters had opened fire at Khalra village on April 20, 2022, at Landa’s behest to extort money. A week later, on April 28, they again opened fire in Dayalpur village, Samrala. On May 15, in another extortion bid, they shot a man in the thigh at Mukshabad village, Samrala.
{{/usCountry}}He detailed that the gangsters had opened fire at Khalra village on April 20, 2022, at Landa’s behest to extort money. A week later, on April 28, they again opened fire in Dayalpur village, Samrala. On May 15, in another extortion bid, they shot a man in the thigh at Mukshabad village, Samrala.
{{/usCountry}}The SSP said during preliminary interrogation, they confessed that they were planning murders in Tarn Taran and Jalandhar districts on the directions of Landa and another gangster Satvir Singh Satta.
Police said all five gangsters were facing multiple cases of attempt to murder, assault and armed robbery in different police stations of Punjab.
The accused will be produced before a court on Thursday.