Gujarat ATS arrests Punjab fugitive linked to Pak gangster Shehzad Bhatti

A Gujarat ATS official said Bikramjit Singh, wanted in connection with a grenade smuggling case, was working as a labourer at a Deesa dhabha

Published on: Apr 5, 2026, 20:34:55 IST

By Maulik Pathak, Ahmedabad

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A man, wanted by the Punjab Police in a grenade smuggling case, has been arrested in north Gujarat’s Banaskantha district and handed over to Amritsar’s state special operations cell, police said on Sunday.

The Punjab Police had shared intelligence with the Gujarat Police about Bikramjit Singh. (Unsplash)

The arrest was carried out by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and Banaskantha Special Operations Group (SOG) following a request sent by Punjab Police, officials said.

“The accused, Bikramjit Singh alias Vicky, son of Kashmir Singh, a resident of Nangal Panual, Amritsar, Punjab, was wanted by Punjab Police in a grenade smuggling case. He was working as a labourer at a dhaba (roadside eatery) in Deesa when he was detained,” according to a Gujarat ATS official.

The Punjab Police had shared intelligence with the Gujarat Police about Bikramjit Singh. Acting on the input, a team from Gujarat ATS and Banaskantha SOG tracked him and brought him to Ahmedabad for interrogation, the official added.

“During interrogation, it emerged that he had been working with Shehzad Bhatti and Abid Jutt to supply grenades and carry out attacks on security installations. While staying outside Punjab, he recruited people from the state into the organised crime network and was part of conspiracies to attack police stations and security units,” according to the official.

Shehzad Bhatti is a Pakistani gangster working for the ISI and is believed to be behind grenade attacks on security units, police stations and prominent persons in Punjab, he added.

The case has been registered by SSOC Amritsar under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Explosive Substances Act, 1908, and the Arms Act, 1959.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Maulik Pathak
He is an Ahmedabad-based journalist with more than two decades of experience. His career spans business journalism and general news, with reporting across politics, crime, governance, public policy, business, industry, infrastructure, energy, ports, aviation, the environment, wildlife and social issues. He began his career in feature writing before moving into business journalism, reporting on companies and sectors including energy, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, automobiles and real estate. Over the years, his work expanded to politics, courts, crime, public policy, civic affairs, the environment and wildlife. His reporting has taken him from government offices and courtrooms to factory floors, ports, forests and remote villages, covering stories that range from industrial investments and financial markets to elections, conservation and issues affecting everyday life. While many assignments demand the pace of the daily news cycle, others require sustained reporting over months and years to follow developments beyond the headlines. He started his journalism career with the Asian Age in Ahmedabad in 2002 as a feature writer and sub-editor. Since 2022, he has been working with Hindustan Times. Earlier, he worked with Business Standard, DNA, The Economic Times, Mint and The Times of India. His longest stint was with Mint, where he spent more than eight years reporting across multiple beats. During his career, he has worked in both reporting and editing roles, contributing to page planning, local editions and special editorial projects as newsrooms evolved from print-first operations to digital publishing. Early in his career, he also worked on media and documentary projects with an NGO and as a copywriter at a communications agency before returning to journalism. Away from work, he sometimes makes time for a pair of binoculars, table tennis, cinema and the occasional poem.Read More

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