The Punjab police have arrested five more persons, including two shooters, in connection with the high-profile murder case of International Kabaddi Player Sandeep Nangal Ambia, taking the total arrests to nine so far.
Jalandhar-Rural Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Swapan Sharma, on Sunday said those arrested in the murder of Kabaddi player have been identified as Harwinder Singh alias Fauji of Bulandshahr (Uttar Pradesh), Vikas Malhe of Gurgaon (Haryana), Sachin Dhaulia of Alwar (Rajasthan), Manjot Kaur of Sangrur (Punjab) and Yadwinder Singh of Pilibhit (UP).
The police have also recovered seven pistols including five foreign-made .30 bore, two .315 country-made pistols and three vehicles including Mahindra XUV, Toyota Etios and Hyundai Verna from their possession.
Notably, a prominent Kabaddi player Sandeep Singh alias Sandeep Nangal Ambia was shot dead by five unidentified assailants during an ongoing Kabaddi match in Mallian village in Jalandhar at around 6 pm on March 14, 2022.
“Harwinder alias Fauji who was nabbed from a village near Bulandshahr in UP is the main accused in the killing, who also provided logistics support including weapons, vehicles, hideouts, training in weapon handling, financial support, and did recce for executing the crime,” said the
SSP said that Fauji, who was the main coordinator of Kaushal-Dagger gang and is active in Delhi, Haryana, and Western UP, was retired in February this year from the 6 Jat Battalion after putting 18 years in armed service.
Being a history-sheeter, he is facing at least 21 criminal cases pertaining to murder, armed dacoity, and extortion in various districts of Western UP and Haryana. He has also been declared a proclaimed offender in several cases registered against him.
SSP Swapan Sharma said that another accused Vikas Malhe, who was nabbed from Faridabad, along with the main shooter was tasked to find out and train the shooters, and later, he also accompanied Fauji to commit the targeted killing of Sandeep. Malhe has nine criminal cases pertaining to murder and extortion registered against him in Haryana.
“During the investigation, Vikas Malhe also revealed his role in the other two murder cases in Punjab which earlier were not known to the Police,” added the SSP.
“In June 2021, Sukhmeet Singh, a transporter, was shot dead in Jalandhar city by unidentified persons. It has now come to light that Vikas along with others executed this killing,” he said.
SSP added, “In January 2022 also, two persons - Manpreet Challa and Manpreet Vicki, both associates of a slain gangster Kulvir Naruana - were shot dead in Bathinda by unidentified persons. Malhe's questioning revealed that these two killings were also planned and executed by him to avenge the arrest of Fateh Nagri - another jailed gangster of Sangrur. Manpreet Challa had allegedly informed the police about the role of Fateh Nagri in Kulvir Naruana murder case.”
Divulging more details, SSP said that Sachin Dhaulia and Manjot Kaur were arrested for harbouring members of Kaushal-Daggar gang and providing them safe passage.