E-Paper
Ludhiana: 3 arrested for firing at Prabhat Nagar house
The accused have been identified as Navdeep Singh alias Navi, Balwant Singh of New Janta Nagar and Nitish Kumar of Preet Nagar of New Shimlapuri, Ludhiana; police said that the Incident is a result of monetary dispute between two jail inmates
The firing incident at a house in Prabhat Nagar in the early hours of February 22 was linked to an ongoing dispute between two jail inmates, the police said on Wednesday. An investigation confirmed that one of the inmates had directed the accused to fire gunshots at the house of another inmate over a monetary disagreement, officials said.
The police have arrested three suspects involved in the firing and recovered a country-made illegal pistol from their possession. The jailed inmate who ordered the attack has also been nominated in the case. The accused have been identified as Navdeep Singh alias Navi, Balwant Singh of New Janta Nagar and Nitish Kumar of Preet Nagar of New Shimlapuri.
According to police reports, at around 1 am on February 22, three unidentified men arrived at a house in Prabhat Nagar, hit its main gate with a sword and fired at least three gunshots before fleeing. Following the incident, the division number 6 police registered a case based on a complaint by Sonia, the niece of the house owner, under Sections 125 (act endangering life or personal safety of others), 324 (4) (mischief causing damage), 3 (5) (criminal act done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) along with charges under the Arms Act.
Assistant commissioner of police (Industrial Area-B) Satwinder Singh Virk said that during investigation, the police traced and arrested the three suspects, who later admitted that they had carried out the firing on the instructions of Aman, currently lodged in jail. The arrested accused confessed that Aman had ordered them to fire at the house of fellow inmate Johny to intimidate his family. A .32-bore illegal country-made pistol with four live cartridges was seized from their possession, the police said.
Further investigation revealed that both Aman and Johny are currently lodged in the Ludhiana Central Jail in connection with separate NDPS Act cases.
Aman’s wife and mother as well as complainant Sonia, who is Johny’s cousin, were previously arrested for drug peddling. While Sonia and Johny’s mother were released on bail, Aman and Johny remained behind bars.
On February 21, the two inmates reportedly had a heated argument inside the jail over a financial dispute. Following the altercation, Aman directed his associates outside the prison to retaliate by attacking Johny’s house.
Inspector Kulwant Kaur, station house officer (SHO) of the division number 6 police station, confirmed that Aman has now been officially nominated in the FIR and will be brought on a production warrant for further questioning. Johny will also be questioned as part of the investigation.
The arrested suspects — Navdeep, Nitish, and Balwant — were found having prior criminal records. Navdeep has five FIRs against him, Nitish has one while Balwant was previously apprehended under preventive detention laws.
