With no sign of gangster Deepak Tinu — one of the accused named in the Sidhu Moosewala murder case and an aide of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi — even nearly two days after his escape, the Punjab police has issued a look out notice against him. The police suspects that he may escape through Nepal on ‘fake’ passport.
Sharing the information in the House, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said: “The police officer Pritpal Singh has been sacked from the force and a case has been registered against him after which he had been sent on remand till October 7 by the court.”
Mann added that a special operation has been started to nab the gangster who had fled from the custody of the CIA unit of Mansa police early on Sunday; and he will be soon behind the bars.
Tinu is currently facing 35 criminal cases, including that of murder, in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Rajasthan, and Delhi. Punjab Police had brought him on transit remand from Tihar Jail in Delhi on July 4.
Tinu was among the 24 accused chargesheeted in the Sidhu Moosewala murder case, which says that he is an aide of gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria. The chargesheet read, “Tinu was instrumental in connecting Bishnoi with gangster Goldy Brar, believed to be in Canada at that time, through mobile phones for planning and executing Moose Wala’s murder.”
SI Pritpal was “part of conspiracy”, says FIR
The FIR said that Mansa Police’s Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) in-charge Pritpal Singh was “a part of the conspiracy to help gangster Deepak Tinu escape from the police custody”.
Sub-Inspector Pritpal Singh, who was sent to four-day police remand till October 7, has already been arrested and dismissed from the service. The police has registered a case against Pritpal and Tinu under Sections 22, 224, 225A and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Notably, Pritpal Singh was also a member of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the murder case of the slain Punjabi singer.
The FIR stated that SI Pritpal Singh took Tinu from the CIA police station for the recovery of weapons in a murder case, during which the gangster escaped from his custody. “It is learnt that the accused had escaped from the custody of SI Pritpal Singh under a conspiracy. The CIA in-charge took him alone in his private vehicle. He did not take any other security personnel with him. He along with his aides took Tinu out of the police station alone and helped him escape. More people are suspected to be involved. Charges of helping an accused to escape custody have been found against Pritpal Singh in the investigation,” the FIR read.
It has been learnt that Pritpal Singh took Tinu in his private car from CIA Mansa office at around 11 pm on Saturday to his official residence in Mansa Civil Lines, where Tinu was left alone to meet his girlfriend in a room while Pritpal Singh went to another room. During this time, fled with his girlfriend.
Available information suggests that Pritpal Singh had also provided a mobile phone to Tinu during his custody at Mansa CIA office through which he was in touch with his girlfriend. It is believed that Tinu had planned his escape plan a day before.
Bajwa questions govt on law and order
Leader of Opposition in Vidhan Sabha and senior Congress leader Pratap Singh Bajwa on Monday targeted the AAP Government over the issue of law and order. “Gangsters are having a free run in Punjab,” said Bajwa while seeking the Chief Minister’s Mann’s on the escape of a gangster Tinu, drug smuggler from police custody in Patiala, and snatching of an SLR from a police personnel in Gurdaspur.
“The responsibility lies with the Chief Minister and the Director General of Police,” he said, while adding that ever since the AAP came to power, “Punjab Police seemed to have lost their way and have been functioning like a directionless force”.
Bajwa also expressed concern over radical elements trying to regroup in the State.