E-Paper
Tarn Taran shopkeeper’s murder: Gangster Landa’s two associates held
Tarn Taran police say the duo had assisted the two shooters in the murder of the 30-year-old shopkeeper at Aladinpur village on October 11; shooters continue to remain at large
{Tarn Taran murder}
A week after a 30-year-old shopkeeper was shot dead in Tarn Taran’s Aladinpur village on October 11, police on Wednesday arrested two associates of Canada-based gangster Lakhbir Singh, alias Landa, in connection with the murder.
The accused were identified as Ravisher Singh of Sheron village and Varinder Singh of Naushehra Pannuan village in Tarn Taran. A .30-bore and four live cartridges were recovered from them.
According to police, the duo had assisted the shooters who shot dead Gurjant Singh of Rasoolpur village in broad daylight at his garments shop and had also conducted a recce of the area.
Tarn Taran senior superintendent of police (SSP) Ranjit Singh Dhillon said, “Through our investigation, we have identified the shooters as Gurkirat Singh, alias Ghugi, of Sheron and Ajmeet Singh of Naushehra Pannuan village. The arrested duo was waiting in a Hyundai Verna car while the two shooters went inside Gurjant’s shop and shot him. Ravisher and Varinder also helped the shooters flee the spot. A Volkswagen Vento was also used by the accused in the crime. Both cars have been recovered.”
Property dispute behind murder: SSP
On the reason behind the murder, the SSP said, “There is a land dispute between Gurjant’s father Ajaib Singh and his brother Nishan Singh, who died a few years ago. Nishan’s son Arshdeep Singh, a close associate of gangster Landa who was recently arrested by Delhi police in an explosive seizure case, has been holding a grudge against Ajaib and hatched a conspiracy to kill his son Gurjant.”
Sources said Arshdeep also suspected that his arrest was a result of Gurjant sharing his information with police.
Earlier, Ajaib had alleged that they had been receiving extortion threat calls from Landa for ₹20 lakh.
Facing several criminal cases, including those of smuggling of drugs, arms, explosives from Pakistan in collusion with gangster-turned-terrorist Harvinder Singh Rinda, Landa has been a huge headache for Punjab Police for over a decade. He is also the prime suspect in the May RPG attack at Punjab Police’s intelligence headquarters in Mohali.
Investigators said Gurjant had recently opened the garments’ shop after taking a ₹40 lakh loan. He got married around a year ago.
Meanwhile, the two shooters continue to evade arrest. The SSP said they had some leads and will be arresting them soon.
