Punjab Police has arrested four persons, including two shooters, for murdering a Tarn Taran-based shopkeeper Gurjant Singh, who was shot at his shop by two assailants on October 11, 2022.
The arrested persons are close-associates of Canada-based terrorist Lakhbir Singh alias Landa and Europe-based terrorist Satpal Singh alias Satta, who in turn are close associates of a Pakistan-based terrorist Harvinder Singh Rinda of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), said the state Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav on Sunday.
DGP Yadav said: “The arrested shooters have been identified as Gurkirat Singh alias Ghugi of Sheron village in Tarn Taran, and Ajmeet Singh of Naushera Pannuan village in Tarn Taran… The two others are identified as Harmanjot and Akashdeep Singh — both residents of Batala — who were arrested for providing weapons and other logistic support to the shooters.”
The police had also recovered four pistols, including two 9mm and two .30 bore, from their possession, he added. The development came four days after the arrest of two persons, identified as Ravisher Singh alias Ravi of village Sheron in Tarn Taran and Varinder Singh alias Bhindi of Naushera Pannuan in Tarn Taran, who carried out recce and harboured shooters in this case. The Police had also recovered one .30 bore pistol and two cars including Hyundai Verna and Volkswagen Vento — which were used in the crime, from their possession.
Amritsar Commissioner of Police Arun Pal Singh said that following reliable inputs, in a joint operation Tarn Taran Police, Amritsar Commissionerate Police, and Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) arrested all the four accused persons. Preliminary investigations have revealed that the arrested persons were hatching a conspiracy to commit another target killing in the area of Amritsar at the behest of Landa and Rinda.
Tarn Taran Senior Superintendent of Police Ranjit Singh Dhillon revealed that there was a family dispute between Gurjant and his estranged cousin Arshdeep Singh alias Batti, who is close-associate of Satnam Satta and Landa, and was arrested by the Delhi Special Cell in Kurukshetra IED planting case. “Landa and Satta avenged the arrest of Arshdeep Batti by murdering Gurjant, who according to them, was the informer to the Police and played a pivotal role in getting Arshdeep Batti arrested,” he added.
Pertinently, a case, dated October 11, 2022, had been registered under sections 302, 506, and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 25, 54, 59 of the Arms Act at Police Station Sadar Tarn Taran.