Busting a gang involved in a murder, targeted killing bids, extortions and gang war, the Patiala police have arrested a few school-going boys among eight persons and seized 10 pistols. Their kingpin, who is abroad, is at large, officials said.
Addressing a press conference at the police lines on Thursday, Patiala range DIG Kuldeep Chahal said it was concerning that six out of the eight arrested had no prior criminal background and were very young. “Some of them are studying in schools. All the recovered pistols are very sophisticated weapons. A few of the weapons have come from Pakistan,” said Chahal.
The arrested accused have been identified as Gurpreet Singh Duggal, Dimple Kaushal, Dhruv, Pratham, Sachin Gupta, Deepanshu, Husunpreet Singh and Shaukat Ali. According to the police, all of them are above 18.
DIG Chahal said the gang used to target businessmen and NRIs. Chahal further said that the gang had recently carried out firings in Patran and Rajpura area of Patiala district.
“Their kingpin Boby Mahi, who is resident of Patiala’s Tafazalpura area, is yet to be arrested. Boby, along with gangster Goldy Dhillon, had been running this gang while sitting abroad. With the arrest of eight members, we have been successful in averting huge criminal activities,” said Chahal.
{{/usCountry}}“Their kingpin Boby Mahi, who is resident of Patiala’s Tafazalpura area, is yet to be arrested. Boby, along with gangster Goldy Dhillon, had been running this gang while sitting abroad. With the arrest of eight members, we have been successful in averting huge criminal activities,” said Chahal.
{{/usCountry}}Police officials said that a boy was found murdered in Patiala city on December 28. It was during the investigation of this case the police came to know about this gang. The murdered 17-year-old boy was associated with this gang and was killed by the arrested accused on December 28, said the police. However, it is not clear why the 17-year-old was killed.
Meanwhile, DGP Gurav Yadav stated on X, “Preliminary investigation reveals that the accused were part of a well-organised criminal network and were actively planning a serious offence. An FIR has been registered and further investigation is underway.”