Gangster Vicky Gounder''s aide arrested in Gurdaspur
Ravi Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service
Gurdaspur, June 10
A 60-member special team of the Gurdaspur Police, which included sharp shooters and members of the elite SWAT squad, arrested Gian Kharal, a key Vicky Gounder aide, in the wee hours on Saturday after a brief encounter in which Kharal sustained a bullet injury in his leg.
Two of his accomplices, whom the police have refused to identify, fled. At the time of filing this report, they were still at large despite the cops throwing a massive dragnet in all villages surrounding the crime scene.
The encounter occurred near the Tugalwal police chowki, falling under the jurisdiction of Kahnuwan police station.
A profusely bleeding Kharal, wanted in more than a dozen cases, was admitted to the civil hospital amid tight security.
“Acting on a specific input, we learnt that Kharal and his gang would be using a particular stretch of road near Tugalwal to make good their escape from the district. A special team led by SP (D) Harpal Singh, DSP (D) Dev Dutt Sharma and DSP (City) AD Singh challenged the troika who were travelling in a Bolero car. Kharal, who was driving, stopped the vehicle and was fired at just as he was about to escape. In the resultant pandemonium, his accomplices fled,” said SSP Bhupinderjit Singh Virk.
Vicky Gounder, Kharal and Sukh Bhikhariwal were involved in the April 20 shootout near Kahnuwan by-pass in which three members of a rival gang were killed. On May 19, Kharal was involved in the kidnapping of an Amritsar doctor.
“The accused has given some information about Gounder. However, at this stage we can not reveal what exactly it is,” said an investigator.
A .32 pistol, three live cartridges and three empty ones were recovered from the crime spot.
A case under Section 307 of the IPC (attempt to murder) has been registered against all the accused.
