3 more held in Nanded murder case Punjab Police

Chandigarh, Mar 15 (PTI) Three more operatives of Pakistan based Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) terrorist Harvinder Singh alias Rinda who is backed by Pakistan's ISI, have been arrested, police said on Saturday.
    Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said the arrests have been made in the ongoing Nanded murder case.
    Those arrested have been identified as Jagjit Singh alias Jaggi and Shubham Khelbude, residents of Nanded in Maharashtra and Gurdeep Singh alias Deepa, from Raipur in Punjab's Ropar, he said.
    Police teams have also recovered two weapons including a 12 bore pump-action gun with 15 cartridges and a .32 bore pistol with eight cartridges, the officer said.
    This development follows the earlier arrests of Jagdish Singh alias Jagga, Shubhdeep Singh alias Shubh, and Sachindeep Singh alias Sachin in connection with the Nanded murder case.
    The total number of individuals apprehended in the case has risen to six in this case, with the latest arrests, Yadav said.
    He said preliminary investigation revealed that the accused Jagjit alias Jaggi played a crucial role in facilitating logistics, safe houses, and coordination for the shooters involved in the Nanded murder case, masterminded by Rinda from across the border.
    Investigations also uncovered the role of jailed gangster Dilpreet alias Baba, an old associate of Rinda, who arranged safe shelters in Punjab for the accused, he added.
    The officer said the arrested operative Jagjeet is wanted in cases of murder, attempt to murder, threat and intimidating for extortion, while Shubham is wanted in threat and extortion related cases in Nanded, Maharashtra and came to Punjab evading their arrest.
    The two were actively involved in coordinating various illegal activities, including the procurement of weapons, collection of extortion money, logistics support, and shelter for their other operatives in Nanded all on directions of Rinda, Yadav said.
    The DGP said that the third arrested individual Gurdeep alias Deepa was apprehended for providing shelter and logistical support to the fugitives Jaggi and Shubham. Gurdeep also played a crucial role in enabling the escape and continued activities of the accused.
    Based on a tip-off, police teams launched an intelligence-led operation and arrested Shubham along with Gurdeep from Sri Anandpur Sahib where he was taking shelter at a sand crusher owned by Gurdeep, the officer said.
    Further swift action on the leads obtained from the interrogation of the arrested accused paved way for the arrest of third accused Jaggi from Tarn Taran district on the same day, he added.
    He said that during the operation the team recovered a .32-bore pistol from Shubham and a pump action gun from Gurdeep, which were intended for use in furthering illegal operations in Punjab and other regions.
    Notably, the Nanded incident had occurred near Gurdwara Gate Number 6 outside a Sikh colony on February 10, targeting Gurmeet Singh, a local out on parole.
    Gurmeet, previously accused in the 2016 murder of Rinda's brother, had sustained injuries but survived. However, his accomplice, Ravindra Rathod, succumbed to critical injuries after the attack.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)