Gangster arrested from Balongi helped criminals flee abroad

Gangster Gagandeep Singh, who was arrested two weeks ago in a joint operation by the Chandigarh and Punjab police from Balongi, was part of a network involved in procuring passports using fake documents to help criminals flee abroad.

Gagandeep, an associate of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, himself was planning to leave the country using forged documents.

Following his arrest, the police have registered a fresh case against him at the Crime Branch wing.

Gagandeep, alias Gagan Bouncer, has 21 criminal cases registered against him. He was arrested on January 24 after high drama at a house in Balongi. He had locked himself inside and attempted to resist arrest by firing a gunshot from the washroom. On the disclosures made by him, the police found the body of a 28-year-old man at a house in Sector 23 here.

During the investigation, the police found an appointment receipt of the passport office and a fake Aadhaar card from the gangster. His interrogation revealed that he was planning to flee abroad to evade arrest.

A police official stated that Manpreet Singh, alias Patwari, a Ludhiana native currently residing in the US, had advised Gagandeep to create fake address documents to obtain a passport and escape to the US. Manpreet also helped Gagandeep and his associate, Neeraj, acquire weapons from Punjab. The police had recovered three pistols from the accused.

Based on a complaint filed by Sub-Inspector Mohinder Singh, a case was registered against the gangster under Sections 61(2) (criminal conspiracy), Section 111 (organised crime), Section 336 (act endangering life or personal safety), Section 339 (wrongful restraint) and Section 340 (forgery and using forged documents as genuine) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).