PK Jaiswar
Amritsar, August 29
Ten days after Amritsar rural police nabbed two associates of gangster Jaggu Bhagwanuria following an exchange of fire, their interrogation has led to the arrest of his six associates, including three sharp shooters.
Amritsar Rural SSP Swapan Sharma on Monday said that with their arrest, the police have managed to avert three possible murders and two armed dacoities. The police recovered five weapons and 1.5 kg of contraband from their possession.
Those arrested were identified as Harwinder Singh alias Kalu, Akash, Sandeep aka Seepa (all sharp shooters), Raja, Balraj and Devinder alias Rana, all residents of Amritsar.
SSP said Harwinder, Akash and Seepa were running a well-organised extortion racket in Amritsar and its adjoining areas. They were involved in smuggling of small arms of different calibre from Madhya Pradesh. The accused collectively had as many as 18 criminal cases including extortion, robberies and contraband smuggling. He said many victims have approached the police while revealing extortion calls from the arrested accused.
“Harwinder was running his own racket that is active in Jandiala and Mattewal area. We had identified them and raids were on to arrest them,” he said.
Remaining three suspects Raja, Balraj and Divender were basically involved in drug peddling. “They were supplying heroin in different parts of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi. We have identified their backward and forward linkages besides tracing their contacts in other states also. Efforts were on to nab them,” SSP added.
On August 18, the police arrested two associates of Jaggu Bhagwanpuria following exchange of firing near Wadala Johal village under Baba Bakala sub division. They were chased for around 11 kilometers before they were arrested in Wadala Johan drain. They were identified as Gurbhej Singh and Shamsher Singh. The police had confiscated 2kg of heroin besides a pistol from their possession.
