Sukhdool Singh killing fallout: Punjab Police launch offensive on aides of wanted gangsters
State police said Sukha had a hand in the killing of kabaddi player Sandeep Singh Nangal at Malian village in Jalandhar.
Published: 22nd September 2023 10:05 AM | Last Updated: 22nd September 2023 10:06 AM | A+A A-
Sukhdool Singh aka Sukha Duneke, a pro-Khalistan activist, was shot dead.
CHANDIGARH: Following Sukhdool Singh's death in Winnipeg, Punjab Police today launched a statewide crackdown against various gangsters and raided over 1,159 suspected hideouts of their associates. The raids carried out in all 28 police districts of the state, covered residential and other premises of associates, relatives and others tied to wanted gangsters.
Sukhdool Singh aka Sukha Duneke, a pro-Khalistan activist who figured in the list of 43 wanted gangsters and terrorists released by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday, was reportedly shot dead in what is being described by various sources as an inter-gang rivalry in Winnipeg, in the Canadian province of Manitoba.
Special DGP (law & order) Arpit Shukla said around 625 police teams, involving over 2,500 police personnel, carried out the operation at as many as 1,159 places. He said 30 persons were rounded up for questioning during the operation for further verification. The material and data collected during the search operation are being examined further, he added.
Sources said Sukha Duneke, who had at least 18 cases against him, including those for murder, attempt to murder and robbery, died on Wednesday night Canada time. The wanted gangster was said to be a member of the Davinder Bambiha gang, a group of violent men thriving on Canadian soil. Duneke fled to Canada in 2017 from Punjab on forged documents.
Another gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who is currently in jail in Ahmedabad in a drug smuggling case investigated by the NIA, claimed responsibility for Sukha’s killing. In a Facebook post, the Bishnoi gang claimed that Sukha had played a key role in the killing of mobsters Gurlal Brar and Vicky Middkhera. Sukha was “punished for his sins.’’
Last year, Punjab Police booked two of its personnel – an assistant sub-inspector and a head constable — who allegedly cleared Sukha’s name during the passport verification in 2017, though he had seven criminal cases registered against him. Sukha thus got a passport issued on the basis of a police report and managed to get a Canadian visa in the same year. Sukha was from Duneke Kalan village in Punjab’s Moga district.
State police said Sukha had a hand in the killing of kabaddi player Sandeep Singh Nangal at Malian village in Jalandhar. He had been orchestrating crimes in Punjab and neighbouring states through his associates. He was also aiding, funding, and strengthening the activities of the Bambiha gang in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan.
Sources said Sukha was soft towards pro-Khalistani outfits. He faced 18 cases of murder and other crimes registered against him in Punjab and other states. Eleven cases, including four murder cases, were filed after he fled to Canada. Sukha worked in the office of the Moga deputy commissioner as a peon, a job he got after his father’s death in 1990 on compassionate grounds. His criminal activities spiked after he moved to Canada.
