CHANDIGARH: The Punjab police on Tuesday arrested a key accused in the Shaurya Chakra awardee Balwinder Singh Sandhu murder case.
Gurwinder Singh alias Baba alias Raja, a proclaimed offender (PO) of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) was arrested at Tarn Taran along with his two aides Sandeep Singh alias Kala of Amritsar and Gurpreet Singh alias Randhawa.
The police recovered one hand-grenade, one RDX-IED, two .30 bore pistols along with magazines and 13 live cartridges, 635 grams heroin, 100 grams opium, Rs 36.90 lakhs drug money, and one Mitsubishi Lancer car from their possession.
Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav said that Gurwinder Singh had played a key role in the murder by providing weapons to the hitman. A probe revealed that he is a close associate of notorious gangsters Sukhpreet Singh alias Harry Chatha and Sukhmeetpal Singh alias Sukh Bikhariwal a prime suspect in the case.
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ferozepur Range Jaskaran Singh said that following reliable inputs that Gurwinder Baba along with his aide Sandeep on the way to Khadoor Sahib, the Tarn Taran police intercepted the white Lancer car in which both were travelling and managed to arrest them. Two pistols with loaded magazines, 635 grams of heroin, 100-gram opium and Rs 3.90 lakh drug money were recovered from the car, he added.
He said that, later, following the disclosures of Gurwinder Baba, police recovered one hand grenade, one RDX-IED and Rs 33 lakhs drug money from the location pinpointed in the area of Police District Batala. Preliminary investigations suggest that the recovered explosives, arms, and drugs were smuggled via drones from Pakistan, he claimed.
SSP Tarn Taran Ranjit Singh Dhillon said that a case has been registered under sections 18, 21, 25, and 29 of the NDPS Act, sections 25(6) and 25(7) of the Arms Act, sections 4 and 5 of the Explosive Substance Act and sections 10, 11 and 12 of the Aircraft Act at Police Station Verowal. He said that these arrests are likely to lead to further disclosures of cross-border smuggling modules. Further investigations are on, he added.
The NIA had last year filed a supplementary charge sheet against three Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) terrorists in this connection.