Cops pull up socks to trap gangster

Nikhil Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana March 2

The Ludhiana Commissionerate has pulled up its socks to trap notorious gangster Rajinder Singh alias Lovely Lamba, who is said to be the blue-eyed man of some prominent politicians in the city, in the net of law.

Lamba has been facing as many as 21 criminal cases, including three of murder, three attempt to murder and rest of robbery, theft, extortion, gambling and under the Arms Act among other cases, at various Police Stations (PS), including PS1, PS2, PS Sarabha Nagar, PS3, PS4, PS Focal Point, PS Sadar, PS8 and Sudhar police station (in Ludhiana rural). Due to the backing of politicians, he did not face arrests in many of the cases.

On February 19, Lamba’s supporters had unleashed panic in Clock Tower area after his arrest in extortion case. Police officials felt that 21 cases against Lamba, which were reported in the past, could just be the tip of the iceberg and there could be many other cases, which were never reported by victims to the police fearing his notoriety and his clout among leaders.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) North, Dr Sachin Gupta issued an appeal to the residents who were looted, defrauded and cheated by gangster Lamba in any respect in the past and said First Information Report (FIR) against him would be filed, with condition after probe only.

“I am aware about the criminal background of Lamba and the way he was cheating people. After his arrest, the police came to know about certain cases, which were not reported by people due to his fear. Now, I issue a gentle appeal to residents that if they faced any crime or fraud from the gangster, they are welcome to report the matter to me and the police would conduct a thorough probe into the complaint and if in the probe, the complaint is found genuine, the police would surely register an FIR against Lamba and ensure justice to victims in minimum possible time,” ACP Sachin said.

He said after he came to know about such unreported cases, he had interacted with some of the victims, but they were not ready to file any complaint. “We don’t want people to rush with fake complaints. We will only entertain genuine complaints and required legal action as per law will be taken up,” the ACP said.

So far, in February 19 case, the police have arrested Jaswinder Pal, Davinder, Manjit Singh, Daljit Pal, Harpreet, Shamim alias Bunty, Govinda and gangster Lamba, too, while around a dozen of his aides, who unleashed panic after Lamba’s arrest, were still at large. As per the disclosures of those arrested, their accomplices were hiding in Rajasthan.