Notorious criminal Tarsem Singh injured in police encounter

A notorious drug and weapon smuggler, Tarsem Singh, was injured in a police encounter here when he was taken for recovery of weapons and drugs here on Tuesday.

Tarsem Singh, a resident of Kikkar Pir Wali Gali, near Gurdwara Sahib in Tarn Taran, along with his two accomplices Amarpreet Singh and Rajbir Singh of Nikka Adda Attari was arrested by CIA staff with two pistols and Rs 70,000 drug money and a car on Sunday.

SSP, Amritsar Rural, Maninder Singh said during a preliminary probe, Tarsem confessed to have concealed another consignment of 1 kg heroin and weapon in Bhakna area. A police team took him to the spot where he had retrieved the weapon and fired two gunshots at the cops who had a narrow escape. In self-defence, they retaliated the fire which hit his leg. The police also recovered the 9mm pistol from the spot and rushed him to the hospital for treatment.

He said Tarsem had around 12 criminal cases (including under the NDPS Act, the Arms Act and the Prisons Act) registered against him in Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Gurdaspur. Answering mediapersons’ queries, he said the accused was currently on bail in these cases.

“The police would now move an application in a court to cancel his bail in the cases,” he said. The police have now registered a fresh case of attempt to murder and under the Arms Act against him for firing at the police party.

Acting on a tip-off, CIA staff arrested Tarsem Singh, along with his associates Amarpreet Singh and Rajbir Singh of Nikka Adda in Attari here on Sunday. According to the police, they had formed a gang involved in the smuggling of illegal weapons sneaked into Indian Territory from Pakistan for further distribution to criminal elements. They were arrested from the Ranike border village turn during a special operation. The police had seized a 9mm Glock pistol along with a .30 bore pistol, two live rounds and Rs 70,000 drug money and a Toyota vehicle from their possession.

During a preliminary probe, it was found that they were associates of Dubai-based gangster Kishan, who originally hails from Jandiala. They were also in direct contact with a Pakistani smuggler, named as Khan. The accused said they used to further supply the weapons at the behest of Kishan.