Police have arrested two of the main accused in the sensational killing of assistant sub-inspectors (ASIs) Bhagwan Singh and Dalwinderjit Singh who were gunned down in Jagraon grain market on May 15.
The suspects, Baljinder Singh alias Babbi of Moga’s Mahla Khurd village and Darshan Singh of Sahauli village in Ludhiana district, were carrying a cash reward of ₹2 lakh each on their head. They are associates of gangster Jaipal Bhullar, and were nabbed from Dabra in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, on Friday evening. Another associate of theirs, Harcharan Singh, who had allegedly given shelter to them, was also arrested.
Giving details, Punjab Police chief Dinkar Gupta said preliminary questioning of the suspects has revealed that on the fateful day, Baljinder had come to Jagraon grain market in his mini-truck to pick Jaipal and Jassi and drop them at a hideout outside the state. Darshan turned up there with some clothes for the gangster and his associate. Gupta said the ASIs who were on duty confronted Baljinder on suspicion of drug smuggling and Darshan opened fire from his .32 revolver. Darshan, Jaipal and Jassi then fled in their I-10 Hyundai car, while Baljinder drove off in his mini-truck and joined them after some time. They all fled towards Rajasthan.
Gupta said intelligence inputs were received that the suspects could be in and around Gwalior. A team from the Organised Crime Control Unit (OCCU) led by inspector Pushpinder Singh was despatched to Gwalior. After much effort, the OCCU team managed to track the suspects and arrested them from Dabra railway station, 40 km from Gwalior, on Friday evening when they were planning to board a train to Maharashtra, Gupta said.
{{/usCountry}}Gupta said intelligence inputs were received that the suspects could be in and around Gwalior. A team from the Organised Crime Control Unit (OCCU) led by inspector Pushpinder Singh was despatched to Gwalior. After much effort, the OCCU team managed to track the suspects and arrested them from Dabra railway station, 40 km from Gwalior, on Friday evening when they were planning to board a train to Maharashtra, Gupta said.
{{/usCountry}}He said the arrested duo has a criminal past and both had been convicted in two different murder cases. They had come in contact with each other while serving jail term. Darshan was granted remission while undergoing his sentence, Baljinder was released on bail by the high court. Darshan reportedly has two more criminal cases pending against him and was also involved in opium smuggling, he said.
Meanwhile, the accused were produced before a Ludhiana court on Saturday that sent them to 10-day police custody for questioning. Six aides of the gangsters, including Darshan’s wife Satpal Kaur alias Noni, were arrested by Jagraon police on May 20 with a cache of weapons and ammunition.
The DGP said Jaipal is one of the few gangsters who has managed to elude arrest, so far. While he remains at large, his close associate, Gavi, was arrested by Punjab Police from Jamshedpur last month. Gavi was wanted in the case of recovery of 11-kg heroin in Jalandhar district. Jaipal’s another associate Jaspreet alias Jassi, who is also absconding since the Jagraon shootout, was earlier arrested for heroin smuggling in Mohali and is also wanted in a kidnapping case.
Gupta said a manhunt is still on for the absconding suspects and he was confident that they too will be arrested soon. Jaipal and his aide Jaspreet carry a cash reward of ₹10 lakh and ₹5 lakh, respectively.