Ludhiana: Gangster Moni’s name crops up in shooting case, brought on production warrant from city prison

Strings of investigation in the shooting case reported at Jawahar Camp on the intervening night of July 14-15 has further stretched to the Central Jail, Ludhiana, and Patiala as dreaded gangsters Sukhwinder Singh Moni and Darpan were brought on production warrant from Ludhiana and Patiala jails, respectively.

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The duo have been imprisoned in connection with the murder of financier Harjinder Singh, alias Jindi, who was brutally shot dead in the Jawahar Camp market on January 23, 2020. Both gangsters were produced in a court, which remanded them in two-day police custody.

As told by the police, besides the three arrested assailants, Manya Sharma, Kushveer Singh Guri and a 16-year-old juvenile, who opened fire at the house of Jindi’s brother Kanwaljit Singh, gangster Darpan and Dubai-based Namit Sharma (also facing seven FIRs and now suspected to be hiding in Dubai) was already booked by the police in the targeted shooting case a day after the firing. Now, the gangster Moni’s name cropped up in the ongoing police probe and he was also nominated in the same FIR of the shooting incident at Jawahar Camp by the police.

A police official privy to the investigation told The Tribune here on Tuesday that gangsters Moni and Darpan, who are lodged in the Ludhiana and Patiala jails, respectively, hatched the conspiracy of shooting with a motive to intimidate Kanwaljit, brother of slain Jindi as Kanwaljit, a hotelier and a key witness, was supposed to testify against the murder suspects in the court and the hearing is scheduled this month only. The testimony of Moni and Darpan is being considered as essential to seek maximum punishment for the Jindi’s killers.

A police official also said Moni was the mastermind in the killing of Jindi as he had been suspecting that Jindi had shared information about him with the police. When he was murdered, the police had also announced Rs 1 lakh reward for information leading to the arrests in the case.

Planned shooting from jail, might used phones

As gangsters Moni and Darpan hatched targeted shooting, as claimed by the police, while sitting in separate jails, the police suspect that they might have used cell phones to interact with another key conspirator Namit Sharma, who was staying in Dubai. The Ludhiana police alerted the jail authorities to inquire if the duo got illegal access to cell phones inside the jail. They suspected that even weapons, cartridges and other logistics support were also arranged by jailed inamates. Interestingly, use of cell phones inside jails in the state is not new as earlier also the police had busted networks of drug smuggling, extortion, etc, being run from jails.

Moni facing over 20 criminal cases

ADCP (Crime) Amandeep Singh Brar said gangster Moni was a hardcore criminal facing over 20 criminal cases, including murder, attempt to murder, robbery, dacoity, ATM thefts and under the Arms Act, registered against him across the country (most in Punjab). He had even attempted to kill Ambala-based hotelier Rajesh Kumar Ahluwalia, striking a deal of Rs 8 lakh as contract money, which left the victim seriously injured. Besides several ATM thefts, Moni with his gang had also looted Rs 25 lakh from SBI’s cash van in Roorkee in 2019. Moni, Darpan and their Dubai-based aide suspected to have been coordinated in the targeting shooting at the house of hotelier Kanwaljit.