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Phagwara cop’s murder: Key accused was trained by notorious criminal Teja
Gangster Yuvraj Singh alias Jora, who was arrested on Saturday following an encounter at a hotel in Zirakpur’s Dhakoli, was trained by notorious criminal Tejinder Singh alias Teja Mehandpuria from Nawanshahr, police said on Monday
Gangster Yuvraj Singh alias Jora, who was arrested on Saturday following an encounter at a hotel in Zirakpur’s Dhakoli, was trained by notorious criminal Tejinder Singh alias Teja Mehandpuria from Nawanshahr, police said on Monday.
Teja is facing trial in as many as 40 criminal cases, including murder, robbery and attempt to murder.
He was lodged in Bathinda Jail and was released on bail on November 16, 2022. He jumped his bail, following which he reunited with his gang members. They had allegedly planned to target religious and political leaders and members of their rival gang.
“The gang, as per our intel, has procured abundant arms and ammunition. We are scanning phone of the accused as he was in touch with someone in Europe. We will try to establish the identity of his handlers once we start our interrogation. We are trying to nab Teja and are raiding possible hideouts. It is clear that the person who dropped Yuvraj at the hotel didn’t know him and they both followed the commands of their handlers”, shared a cop.
Meanwhile, Jora, who was shot in both legs in the encounter, underwent surgery at GMCH-32 on Monday and is out of danger, police said.
“As he is stable now, we will interrogate him to expose the plans of his gang, besides questioning him about the identity of the person who dropped him at the hotel in a Maruti Suzuki Swift car with a Haryana registration number,” said a senior police officer.
Jora, 21, is a key accused in the January 8 murder of a Phagwara police constable. The constable, Kuldeep Singh Bajwa, 28, was part of a police team that was chasing gangsters who had robbed a car at gunpoint in Phillaur’s Kangjagir village on January 8. During the chase, the robbers had fired at the police party and a bullet had pierced through Bajwa’s thigh, leading to his death.
Police, who are working on establishing the identity and location of Jora’s handler, said the gangster, who was a native of Pharwala village in Jalandhar, was told to stay at Hotel Alps in Dhakoli, from where he was eventually nabbed.
According to the police, following the constable’s murder, Jora fled to Delhi NCR. There, he was directed to reach the hotel in Dhakoli, where he was supposed to stay for an evening.The same driver was to pick up Jora from the hotel and drop him at his next destination.
The encounter
On Saturday evening, following a tip-off that Jora had checked in at a hotel in Dhakoli using the fake identity of Ramzan Malik, a team of Punjab Police’s anti-gangster task force had reached the spot.
But, when asked to surrender, Jora opened fire at the police team, following which a bullet hit the bullet proof jacket of AIG Sandeep Goel, upon which his room’s door was broken open by DSP Bikramjeet Singh Brar.
As the accused fired two more shots, the team overpowered him after a brief encounter, in which he suffered two gunshot wounds to the legs.
Two .32-calibre pistols were recovered from the accused.
Later, the Dhakoli police booked Jora under Sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 307 (attempt to murder), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 465 (forgery), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), along with relevant sections of the Arms Act.
