Jagraon firing: Chief sewadar held for orchestrating attack at gurdwara

Sukhwinder Singh, Jagraon Sadar station house officer, said that Baba Amarjit Singh was produced before a local court, which remanded him to two days of police custody for further questioning

The Jagraon police have arrested Baba Amarjit Singh, the chief sewadar of Gurdwara Gopalsar Sahib in Gagra village, for orchestrating firing at the shrine to secure police protection for himself.

The accused in the custody of Ludhiana police on Saturday. (HT)

Sukhwinder Singh, Jagraon Sadar station house officer, said that Baba Amarjit Singh was produced before a local court, which remanded him to two days of police custody for further questioning.

Police are now interrogating the chief sewadar to establish the complete conspiracy.

The police on Friday arrested his accomplice, Sandeep Singh, a truck driver from Moga, who executed the firing at the shrine on the intervening night of October 26 and 27. During his interrogation, he told police that Baba Amarjit Singh had sought police security and planned the attack to create grounds for obtaining a security cover, following which the chief sawadar was arrested on Saturday.

Investigators recovered an illegal .32-bore pistol and a motorcycle used in the crime from Sandeep’s possession following his arrest.

During interrogation, Sandeep confessed that the chief sewadar had orchestrated the attack specifically to create grounds for obtaining government security cover. He also revealed that he had procured the illegal weapon from Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh around six months ago.

Meanwhile, the senior superintendent of police (SSP) clarified that investigations so far have found no links between the Gagra village incident and a separate firing reported at Gurdwara Manji Sahib in Rajoana Kalan village on October 28.