CHANDIGARH: In a major breakthrough, the Punjab Police on Sunday arrested the mastermind in the Nabha jailbreak. Gangster Gurpreet Singh Sekhon was arrested from his house in Dhudike village of Moga district in the State. Sources said the police nabbed three other gangsters along with him in a joint operation carried out by counter-intelligence of Patiala and Moga police.
Besides Gurpreet, Manveer Sekhon alias Mani of Makhu, Rajwinder Singh Raja alias Sultan of Mangewala village in Moga and Kulwinder Singh alias Bhimbri of Sidana village in Bathinda have been arrested. The police had got a tip-off that the accused were hiding in a house in Dhudike.
Assistant inspector general of Police (counter-intelligence) Gurmeet Singh Chauhan, who led the operation, told Express that Gurpreet along with others had escaped to Udaipur and Kota in Rajasthan after escaping from the Nabha jail.
He then went to Indore, Madhya Pradesh, came back to Rajasthan and a few days ago returned to Punjab.
“In Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, all the accused were together and used to rent flats on fake identities and did not stay in a hotel. Once back in Punjab they separated. Their sympathisers used to send them money in designated accounts.
They did not communicate with each other directly to escape the dragnet,’’ he said, adding that Gurpreet trimmed his beard and he and the other accused persons shaved or cut their hair to change their appearance.
“They were constantly changing their looks to avoid being caught. At times they gave up their turbans,’’ he said.
The police team tracked the accused to a house owned by a person called Gurkewal Singh in the village. Subsequently, the Special Weapons and Tactics Team nabbed them.
“We have detained the house owner for questioning to verify if he has any links with the accused persons. The operation lasted for two hours. Four weapons, including two of .32 bore, one .12 bore and another .30 bore, and two cars were recovered from their possession,’’ the police officer said, adding that Manveer, Rajwinder Singh Raja and Kulwinder Singh facilitated the escape of Gurpreet and others from outside the prison.
Besides Gurpreet, Khalistan Liberation Force chief Harminder Singh (49) alias Mintoo had also escaped, but he was later arrested from the Delhi Railway Station.
Kulpreet Singh alias Neeta Deol, who had also escaped, was arrested from Madhya Pradesh. Others who escaped, but are still at large are Kashmir Singh, Harjinder Singh Bhullar alias Vicky Gondar and Amanpreet Tonda.