CHANDIGARH: Punjab Police have arrested two associates of foreign-based gangster Prabhdeep Singh alias Prabh Dasuwal, solving at least two firing incidents in Tarn Taran district. The accused were arrested after a brief encounter at Valtoha in the district. Parallely, the state police dismantled a drug trafficking cartel with the arrest of four individuals and seized 5 kg of heroin from their possession in Amritsar.
Director General of Police, Punjab, Gaurav Yadav said here on Tuesday that those arrested have been identified as Karanpreet Singh alias Karan, a resident of Toot village in Tarn Taran and Gurlaljit Singh alias Laali, a resident of Bhangala village in Tarn Taran.
The police have also recovered one .32 bore pistol along with live cartridges and empty bullet shells from their possession, besides impounding their Honda Activa scooter, which they were riding.
As per the information, both the accused persons were running an extortion racket on the directions of their handler Prabh Dasuwal, who is associated with the Ghanshyampuria gang and were involved in two firing incidents.
The recent firing incident took place at a Medical Store in Gharyala village on January 1 this year and another firing incident took place at Valtoha wherein they targeted Arhtiya (commission agent) to demand extortion of Rs 20 lakh on December 2 last year.
Yadav said that following the incident, Tarn Taran Police launched a special operation and acting on technical aspects and human intelligence identified the accused persons involved in both cases.
Acting on the tip-off about the accused persons who were roaming in the area of Valtoha, a police team led by SP Investigation Ajayraj Singh, DSP Investigation Rajinder Minhas and DSP Bhikhiwind Preet Inder Singh followed the trail and managed to locate them. Both accused started firing at the police party, he said, adding that the police fired back in self-defence.
Sharing more details, Senior Superintendent of Police of Tarn Taran Abhimanyu Rana said that accused Karanpreet and Gurlaljit sustained bullet injuries in retaliatory fire.
Both accused Karan and Gurlaljit have been arrested and have been admitted to the hospital for medical treatment, he added.
He said that the accused Karanpreet has a criminal history and was wanted by the Punjab Police in different criminal cases. He added that further investigations are on and raids are being conducted to nab absconding accused persons in both cases.
A case has been registered under sections 109, 132, 221 and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and section 25 (6) (7) of the Arms Act at Police Station Valtoha.
Meanwhile, the Amritsar Police Commissionerate dismantled a drug trafficking cartel with the arrest of four individuals and seized 5 kg of heroin from their possession.
Those arrested have been identified as Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi (19) and Baljeet Kaur (32), both resident of Muthiaval village in Tarn Taran; Maninder Singh (34), a resident of Bhikhiwind in Tarn Taran and Harpreet Singh (26), a resident of Lodhi Gujar village in Amritsar. Apart from recovering heroin, police teams have also impounded two motorcycles.
DGP Yadav said that all the accused persons were in direct contact with Pakistan-based smugglers and receiving consignments of drugs from across the border. Probe revealed that consignments were being dropped with the help of drones, he added.
He said that further investigations are going on to establish backward and forward linkages in this case. More arrests and recoveries are likely in coming days, he added.
Amritsar Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that a police team led by DCP Harpreet Singh Mander, ADCP Investigation Navjot Singh, and ACP Detective Kuldeep Singh, under the supervision of CIA Staff-1 in-charge Inspector Amolkdeep Singh, conducted a targeted operation and tracked down two accused. The police apprehended Gurpreet Singh and Baljeet Kaur in the area of Guru ki Wadali along with 3 kg heroin on January 1 this year.
It was revealed that Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi and Baljeet Kaur are related as nephew and aunt.
Baljeet Kaur’s husband, Balbir Singh, was arrested in 2022 under the NDPS Act by the Hindumalkot Police Station in Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan, where 5 kg of heroin was recovered from him. He is currently lodged in Karnpur Jail, Rajasthan.
Bhullar said that efforts are being made to uncover the entire network of suppliers, dealers, and buyers, as well as to ascertain the total quantity of drugs purchased by the arrested individuals so far.
A case has been registered under sections 21(c), 23, and 29/61/85 of the NDPS Act at Chheharta Police Station, Amritsar.