Kabaddi player-turned-sharpshooter tries to flee police custody, faces bullet injury

A kabaddi player-turned sharpshooter, Salim, a resident of Rurki village, who was recently arrested by the Machhiwara police, along with his aides, had carried out the firing at the house of 20-year-old Jaspreet Singh at Chak Lohat village on July 29 in which the latter had suffered five bullet injuries.

On Tuesday night, Salim was taken to the forest area in Khanpur village, near Machhiwara, for recovering a weapon used in the shoot-out. After the police recovered the weapon, the suspect in a bid to escape tried to snatch the official pistol from the Machhiwara SHO inspector Harwinder Singh. The policeman did not lose hold on the weapon and fired a shot in self-defence that hit the leg of the suspect. Afterwards, other police officials cornered the suspect and shifted him to a hospital for treatment.

Superintendent of Police (Investigation), Khanna, Pawanjit, said after the arrest of Salim on August 1, he confessed that he had concealed a weapon in jungle area near Machhiwara. Following which, the police officials took the suspect to the spot while it was raining heavily. When Salim in a bid to escape tried to snatch the weapon from the inspector, firing occurred and he suffered a bullet injury. A .30 bore pistol along with five rounds were recovered from the spot.

“Salim is a contract killer who was hired by some US-based person to commit murder of Jaspreet. The USA resident, Sarabjit, seems to have some conflict with the family of the youth due to which he hired Salim, who, along with his aides, carried out the shoot-out. Jaspreet faced five bullets and was undergoing treatment at a hospital,” he said.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Samrala, Tarlochan Singh, said after the July 29 incident, the police had also nabbed Salim’s wife Nazia, brothers Anwar and Irfan, from whom two weapons, cartridges and a Maruti Alto car used in the crime were recovered. His family members were arrested for giving shelter to the suspect, hiding illegal weapons and the car used in the crime.

When asked about the money the US-based suspect committed to give to Salim, the DSP said questioning of the suspect was on and other details would be cleared during further investigation.

He claimed that Salim was a village-level kabaddi player and a probe was on to inquire why he turned a contract killer. The past criminal record of the suspect was also being checked.

Four relatives of Jaspreet, Diwan Singh, Lakhbir Singh, Jaswant Singh and Bhupinder Singh, were already booked in the case on the statement of the complainant, who alleged that a land dispute with them could be the cause of murderous attack on him.

Tested weapon in forest

Sharp-shooter Salim also tested weapon in a forest in Khanpur village before the murderous attack on Jaspreet. As per police sources, he had tested an illegal .30 bore pistol in the same jungle near Machhiwara before using the same in a bid to kill Jaspreet. After the attack, the suspect again reached the forest and concealed the weapon there.

US-based suspect had dispute with victim’s kin: Cops

US-based suspect Sarabjit, the key conspirator in the case, had a long-standing dispute with the family of Jaspreet. He had hired Salim to kill the youth and a hefty amount was also promised by him. The police are inquiring if any advance amount was also given to him or not. They also suspect that Sarabjit might have arranged illegal weapons to carry out shoot-out.