Amritsar encounter: Slain gangsters were staying in Punjab for drugs, say cops

Jagroop Singh, alias Roopa, and Manpreet Singh, alias Manu Kusa, who were involved in the high-profile murder of Punjabi singer and politician Sidhu Moose Wala on May 29, were killed in a four-hour encounter on July 20. They were holed up in an abandoned building of the village, situated around 14km from the India-Pakistan border.

AMRITSAR: Two gangsters, who were killed in an encounter with Punjab Police in Hoshiar Nagar village of Ajnala sub-division in Amritsar on Wednesday, were addicts and had been staying in the state for easy accessibility of drugs, police officials familiar with the matter said.

Two gangsters, who were killed in an encounter with Punjab Police in Hoshiar Nagar village of Ajnala sub-division in Amritsar on Wednesday, were addicts and had been staying in the state for easy accessibility of drugs, police officials familiar with the matter said.

Jagroop Singh, alias Roopa, and Manpreet Singh, alias Manu Kusa, who were involved in the high-profile murder of Punjabi singer and politician Sidhu Moose Wala on May 29, were killed in a four-hour encounter on July 20. They were holed up in an abandoned building of the village, situated around 14km from the India-Pakistan border.

“Preliminary investigation has found that Roopa was a chronic drug addict and had been hooked to heroin while Mannu used to take opioid pills. They were using their local links to get drugs,” said a senior police official, who is part of the investigation.

He said Roopa was facing 17 criminal cases and Manu was named in 15 cases across Punjab. According to the police, a car had dropped both the gangsters in the abandoned building. “We are still working to identify the accused who dropped the gangsters,” said another police official.

Police suspect that gangsters Money Rayya and Mandeep Tufan, close aids of gangster Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, had arranged the slain gangsters’ stay in the abandoned building. A cot and some disposable plates have been found from the abandoned house. Rayya is also involved in the case wherein gangster Shubham was freed from police custody in Beas in 2017.

Meanwhile, the owner of abandoned building Balwinder Singh, alias Billa Dodhi, a resident of Bhakna village, was called by the police on the second conservative day for questioning.