4 members of Gaggu Balachauria gang held for running arms racket

Jalandhar, March 10

The Phillaur police have arrested four members of the Gaggu Balachauria gang who were planning to carry out criminal activities in the region. Four pistols and live ammunition were also seized from their possession.

SP (Investigation) Sarabjit Bahia said a tip-off was received that members of the Gaggu Balachauria gang were planning to carry out some crime in the Phillaur area. Gaggu Balachauria is currently lodged in the Ludhiana jail in a murder case and allegedly runs a drugs and arms supply business from there.

Gangster brought on warrant, held

• Gangster Jatinder Singh, alias Gaggu Balachauria, a resident of Balachaur at SBS Nagar, was brought on a production warrant from the Ludhaina jail to Phillaur and arrested
• Gaggu Balachauria, during questioning, revealed that he met one of the accused Vicky Sandhu in the jail and planned out his illegal arms and drug supply racket from the prison itself

On the basis of this information, the police apprehended three men on a Bullet motorcycle late at night in Phillaur. Two of them fled while one of them was arrested.

The arrested man was identified as Sandeep Kumar, alias Sandy, a resident of Boparai in Goraya. The police recovered a pistol, .32 bore along with two live rounds from him. Another person who fled the spot was also arrested later. He was identified as Narinder Singh, alias Rajan, a resident of Padhiana in Jalandhar. The police recovered a.32-bore pistol and two live rounds from his possession.

Another absconding person was arrested from on Nawanshahr-Lasara Road. He was identified as Vicky Sandhu, a resident of Jhuggia Maha Singh, in Phillaur. A pistol of .32 bore, along with a magazine and three live rounds, was recovered from his possession. A case under Sections 379 B, 382, 392 and 395 of the IPC, Sections 25, 25 (6), 27 (7), 54 and 59 of the Arms Act and Sections 21, 22 and 29 of the NDPS Act was registered at the Phillaur police station on March 7 against the four persons, including kingpin Balachauria.

As per revelations of accused Vicky Sandhu during the custody, another pistol of .32 bore, along with a magazine and two live rounds, was recovered by the police. Gangster Jatinder Singh, alias Gaggu Balachauria, a resident of Balachaur at SBS Nagar, was also brought on a production warrant from the Ludhaina jail and arrested.

Gaggu Balachauria, during questioning, revealed that he met Vicky Sandhu in the jail and he planned out his illegal arms and drug supply racket from the jail itself.

After coming out on bail from the jail in 2022, Vicky Sandhu went to Madhya Pradesh and bought illegal pistols and cartridges from there to Punjab. As per plan, he was further planning to sell the pistols at higher rates and carry out crime incidents in the state.

During investigation, Vicky Sandhu too admitted that he met Balachauria in the jail and they both became friends. After getting released, he started illegal arms’ sale and purchase business as asked by Balachauria. To increase his arms’ supply network, he had supplied pistols bought from Madhya Pradesh to the other accused – Narinder Kumar and Sandeep Sandy.