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Ludhiana: Five arrested for May 1 Khanna dhaba firing
The SSP added that during interrogation, Munish Sharma disclosed that the weapon used in the crime had been hidden on the roof of a motor room in Issru village
Five persons have been arrested in connection with the May 1 firing incident at Prem Dhaba on Lalheri Road, Khanna police said on Friday.
Prem Dhaba, owned by Naresh Pathak alias Nannu, a resident of Ram Nagar, Lalheri Road, Khanna, was fired upon by two persons for ₹1 crore extortion at 6.45 am on May 1. Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Darpan Ahluwalia said that during the investigation, officials analysed CCTV footage covering nearly 150 km and used technical surveillance and intelligence inputs to identify the suspects. Acting on the leads, police arrested Sahibjot Singh of Floud Kalan village in Malerkotla and Munish Sharma of Basant Nagar, Shimlapuri, Ludhiana, from Mohali.
During interrogation, both accused allegedly confessed their crime. Further investigation revealed that Parminder Singh, alias Laddi, of Chari village in Fatehgarh Sahib, Amandeep Singh, alias Amni, of Rahon and Vivek Singh, alias Vicky, of Rahon allegedly arranged the pistol, a stolen motorcycle and hideouts for the shooters. Another accused, Mohammad Akhtar of Rahon, allegedly conducted reconnaissance of the dhaba before the attack.
Police subsequently nominated all four accused and arrested Amandeep Singh, alias Amni, Vivek Singh, alias Vicky, and Mohammad Akhtar. Raids are being conducted to arrest Parminder Singh, alias Laddi, the SSP said.
The SSP added that during interrogation, Munish Sharma disclosed that the weapon used in the crime had been hidden on the roof of a motor room near a petrol pump in Issru village. Police said that when a recovery operation was conducted, Munish allegedly attempted to escape by jumping from the roof and sustained injuries, but was immediately apprehended.
The FIR mentioned that the dhaba owner had received extortion calls from gangster Doni Bal and also Shaganpreet Singh, alias Shagan, former manager to slain Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala, who is presently residing in Australia. Officials claimed Shaganpreet had links with gangster Doni Bal. Police alleged that Shaganpreet, in association with the gangster, had demanded extortion money and was involved in similar offences earlier as well.
A .30-bore pistol along with a magazine, two live cartridges and a motorcycle have been seized from the accused. Further interrogation is underway and more disclosures are expected, officials said.
Soon after the firing incident, multiple police teams were constituted under the supervision of DSP (D) Mohit Kumar Singla and DSP Vinod Kumar to identify and trace the accused.
