CHANDIGARH: A team of the Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) of the Punjab Police on Monday arrested three men, including two shooters, involved in the murder of kabaddi promoter Kanwar Digvijay Singh alias Rana Balachauria last month. The trio were nabbed in Howrah in West Bengal.
Director General of Police, Punjab, Gaurav Yadav said those arrested have been identified as Karan Pathak alias Karan Defaulter, a resident of Amritsar; Tarandeep Singh, a resident of Barhewal in Ludhiana, and Akashdeep, a resident of Upala in Tarn Taran. The accused were arrested with the assistance of Sikkim Police, Mumbai Police, West Bengal STF, the local Howrah Police and central agencies.
Balachauria was shot dead by assailants during a kabaddi tournament at Sohana in SAS Nagar on December 15. A total of five accused persons have been arrested so far. The two who were arrested earlier have been identified as Aishdeep Singh and Davinder.
Yadav said that Karan and Tarandeep were the shooters, while, Akashdeep, a close relative of foreign-based handler Amar Khabe Rajputa, had provided shelter and logistics support to them. All three are being brought to Punjab for further investigation, he added.
He said that efforts are ongoing to identify and apprehend the remaining associates to completely unravel the case.
Sharing operational details, Deputy Inspector General of Police of AGTF Gurmeet Singh Chauhan said that following the crime, the AGTF immediately associated itself with the investigation due to clear indications of intergang rivalry and the involvement of foreign-based handlers. Through extensive CCTV footage analysis, the AGTF and SAS Nagar police reconstructed the pre and post-offence movements of the accused, identified vehicles used, and traced the escape route up to Panipat Toll Plaza, he said.
He said the digital footprint trail of the three accused, who travelled to Mumbai, Bangalore, Siliguri, Sikkim, Gangtok and Kolkata, led the AGTF team headed by DSP Rajan Parminder to Howrah where they were arrested. Both the arrested shooters have a criminal background, he said, adding that further investigations are ongoing.