Gangsters demand Rs 60 lakh

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 20

The police, including intelligence agencies have launched a manhunt to arrest Gopi Ghanshampuria, Supreet Harry alias Harry Chatha and their accomplices who had kidnapped an Ajnala- based doctor and released him after extracting Rs 7.50 as lakh ransom.

The police have provided security around the residence of the doctor and his family members after the accused threatened Dr Munish Sharma, the victim, of dire consequences in case he failed to hand over Rs 60 lakh as ransom to them.

The Punjab Police intelligence including the organised crime intelligence unit have been on their toes to arrest the gangster who is believed to be camping in the border belt. The police have also taken several persons into custody to find any clue about the whereabouts of notorious gangsters.

An intelligence official preferring not to be named said the Gopi Ghanshampuria gang was an accomplice of Vickey Gounder, who escaped during the Nabha jail break and recently killed three members of a rival gang at Gurdaspur. He said Ghanshampuria and his gang had committed a number of similar instances earlier also, but the victims did not inform the police.

The gang was heavily armed and needed money for their survival and committing similar crimes.

A preliminary probe revealed that during the abduction of Dr Munish Kumar Sharma, they had two bags containing arms and ammunition and they were fully prepared in case of any police encounter.

It has been learnt that the police have been scrutinising the CCTV footage of various toll plazas to find out where the accused had fled.

Ravinder Pal Singh, DSP, said raids had been conducted at a number of places for their arrests besides several persons have been taken into custody for investigations. He said technical inputs were also being taken to trace their location.