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Punjab Police bust interstate gang having Bishnoi-Rinda link
The Jalandhar Rural police have also recovered nine weapons and five stolen vehicles from the gang members, said ADGP Promod Ban
The Punjab Police on Thursday claimed to have foiled at least seven contract killings with the arrest of 11 members of an inter-state gang that allegedly had the backing of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and Pakistan-based Khalistani terrorist Harwinder Singh Rinda.
The cops have also recovered nine weapons and five stolen vehicles from the gang members, said the Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) chief, additional director general of police (ADGP) Promod Ban, while addressing a press conference in Jalandhar.
Those arrested in the operation carried out by the Jalandhar Rural Police have been identified as Mohd Yaseen Akhtar, alias Jaisy Purewal; Sagar Singh; Amar Malik; Navi; Ankush Sabharwal, alias Paya; Sumit Jaswal, alias Kaku; Amandeep, alias Shooter; Shiv Kumar, alias Shiva; Vishal, alias Fauji; Arun Kumar, alias Mani Rana; and Annu, alias Pehalwan. All are history-sheeters facing multiple cases of heinous crimes, said Ban.
The ADGP, who was accompanied by senior superintendent of police, Jalandhar Rural, Swapan Sharma, said that the gang was active in Punjab and its neighbouring states and had committed several crimes, including murder, attempt to murder, robbery, extortion and drug smuggling. “With their arrest, the Punjab Police have thwarted at least seven murders, two police custody escapes, and four armed robberies,” he said.
Kingpin is Goldy Brar’s aide: ADGP
The ADGP said that preliminary investigations have revealed that the gang was being operated by Vikram Brar, an associate of Canada-based gangster and Bishnoi’s key aide Goldy Brar, under the directions of Rinda. Brar, who is said to be Bishnoi’s former classmate, belongs to Hanumangarh in Rajasthan and is currently residing abroad. He is wanted by the police in six states.
Both Bishnoi and Goldy Brar have been identified as main conspirators in Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala’s murder. Rinda, according to the Punjab Police, is a former gangster from Tarn Taran who escaped to Pakistan and is now overseeing terror activities in the border state under the protection of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
SSP Swapan Sharma said that one of the arrested gang members, Mohd Yaseen Akhtar, is close to both Bishnoi and Goldy Brar and is involved in at least 16 heinous crimes. Ankush Sabarwal, who is facing six criminal cases, was a student of Vikram Brar at an IELTS centre in Nakodar in 2014 and had been providing shelter to Maharashtra gangster Saurav Mahakal, who was recently arrested by the Pune Police. During Mahakal’s two-month stay in Punjab, the two committed three crimes in the state, said the SSP.
Sharma said that Arun Kumar is a jailed gangster who was carrying out criminal activities from behind the bars on the directions of Bishnoi and his associate in Majha region Jaggu Bhagwanpuria. Those arrested were planning to help Kumar flee the police custody during a court hearing in Una, Himachal Pradesh, said the SSP, adding that Sumit Jaswal was actively involved in doing recce and organising logistics for the escape attempt.
