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Zirakpur shootout: Trio who arranged hideouts, weapons for shooters nabbed
The accused were identified as Abhishek Rana of Rankhandi village, Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh; Ankit Kumar of Mainpuri village, Mohali; and Praveen Kumar of Lalru, Mohali
Days after arresting two associates of gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi, Goldy Brar and Saba following a shootout on VIP Road, Zirakpur; Mohali police have nabbed three more operatives of the gang who are said to have arranged hideouts and weapons for the gang’s shooters arrested earlier.
The accused were identified as Abhishek Rana of Rankhandi village, Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh; Ankit Kumar of Mainpuri village, Mohali; and Praveen Kumar of Lalru, Mohali.
Manjeet Singh, alias Guri, of Khedi Gujran, Dera Bassi, was the first to be arrested during the encounter on November 6. He had suffered a bullet injury in the leg in the gunfight.
His accomplice, Gurpal Singh of Dera Bassi, who had managed to flee back then, was eventually traced to Rankhandi village in Saharanpur, and caught on Thursday.
As per police, Manjeet and Gurpal were tasked by gangsters Goldy Brar and Saba to eliminate two gang rivals, including a Zirakpur-based businessman.
Police said Saba got three pistols delivered to the duo near Dera Bassi college to execute the killings 10 days before the shootout.
“The shooters had reached Zirakpur to assassinate a gang rival, who has an office in Zirakpur but resides in Chandigarh. Their target, who himself was earlier booked in a NDPS case, was in Delhi at the time of the encounter. They were also eyeing to eliminate another gang rival, but were nabbed by police,” a police officer privy to the probe said.
Mohali senior superintendent of police (SSP) Sandeep Kumar Garg said Abhishek provided a hideout to Gurpal at Rankhandi, Saharanpur.
“Ankit procured two weapon consignments in the last eight months. He delivered the first consignment to Joginder, alias Joga of Bhiwani, Haryana, who was wanted in the Sidhu Moose Wala murder case and later arrested by Gurugram police. Now, he delivered the weapons to shooters Manjeet and Gurpal on Saba’s directions. He also assisted Gurpal in fleeing the city after the November 6 encounter,” the SSP detailed.
The third accused, Praveen, provided a hideout to Gurpal at a hotel in Lalru, said police.
SP Amandeep Brar said with these arrests, more operatives of the gang and weapons will be tracked down soon.
Ankit Kumar, a graduate from Punjabi University, Patiala, according to police sources, has been attached with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang for the past one year and his foreign handlers have invested over ₹2 lakh in him so far.
Who is Joga
Joga had allegedly provided weapons to Moose Wala’s assailants and went absconding last year. He received a consignment of weapons from Ankit in April that the former wanted to use for kidnapping and killing a businessman in Gurugram. Before executing the plan, Joga was arrested by Haryana police in June this year, along with his nine accomplices. Police had then recovered seven police uniforms, four pistols and 28 live cartridges, besides stolen vehicles from their custody.
DSP Bikram Singh Brar said investigation was now following the back trail that helped nab the operatives of Goldy Brar and Saba, involved in the Zirakpur encounter.
