Kandowalia murder: One of 4 assailants arrested in Amritsar

Gurminderjit Singh, alias Happy Shah, of Chahal Kalan village in Batala was arrested by the Amritsar commissionerate police following a tip-off

One of the four assailants who gunned down gangster Ranbir Singh, alias Rana Kandowalia, in a private hospital in Amritsar last week was arrested on Wednesday, said police.

Kandowalia murder: One of 4 assailants arrested in Amritsar

Gurminderjit Singh, alias Happy Shah, of Chahal Kalan village in Batala was arrested by the Amritsar commissionerate police following a tip-off. Police have also recovered a pistol and five cartridges from his possession.

During interrogation, Happy Shah told the police that they planned to eliminate Kandowalia around a month ago at the instance of gangster Jagdeep Singh, alias Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, who is lodged in Delhi’s Tihar jail.

Kandowalia, who was facing nearly a dozen criminal cases, including those of murder and attempt to murder, was shot dead by four armed men when he was enquiring about his cousin sister’s health in a private hospital situated on the Circular Road on August 4.

Soon after the incident, a Facebook post from an account named after Jaggu Bhagwanpuria was also surfaced claiming the responsibility of killing Kandowalia. Police had booked Bhagwanpuria and four assailants, identified as Money Rayya, Mandeep Singh, alias Toofan, Happy Shah, and a Haryana-based man, for murder. Later, six more persons were nominated in the case for sheltering the accused.

Deputy commissioner of police (DCP-investigation) Mukhwinder Singh Bhullar said: “According to Happy’s confessional statement, Bhagwanpuria had instructed him and three other assailants to eliminate Kandowalia. Earlier, they had planned to kill Kandowalia near a gym in Ranjit Avenue in Amritsar on July 31, but due heavy police presence, they could not execute the plan.”

Giving the possible reasons for Kandowalia’s killing, Bhullar said: “A few months ago, Kandowalia and his associates shared a picture of cake for Bhagwanpuria on Facebook and ridiculed him. The two groups entered into a war of words on the social networking site. Things worsened when name of slain gangster Patti Lama, who was gunned down in a gang war in Patti a few years ago, cropped up. Patti Lama was Bhagwanpuria’s aide and he suspected that Kandowalia was behind his killing.”

The DCP said their process to bring Bhagwanpuria on a production warrant from Tihar jail was on.

Police have also arrested one more person, Gurpreet Singh, alias Gopi, of Gagarbhana village in Amritsar for allegedly providing shelter to the four assailants. A pistol and seven live rounds have also been recovered from Gopi. Earlier, police had arrested one Nanit Sharma of Batala for harbouring the assailants.