Three nabbed for attack on AAP leader’s house

The CIA-1 team of the Ludhiana police has arrested three suspects in connection with the attack on the house of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader-cum-village sarpanch Sukhwinder Singh Chhinda in Lehra village, here, and the subsequent setting of his car on fire. The suspects were apprehended from Moga.

Chhinda, who is also the president of the Pohir Truck Union, alleged that the suspects had attacked his house on September 20 for teaching him a lesson for opposing drug peddlers. The victim is also a close associate of Gill legislator Jiwan Singh Sangowal.

The suspects have been identified as Kuldeep Singh Manak (37), a resident of Lehra village in Dehlon, Gurmanjot Singh (29) of Chakkar village and Sukhchain Singh (26) of Mehal Kalan.

DCP (Investigation) Harpal Singh, ADCP Amandeep Singh Brar, ACP (Investigation) Harshpreet Singh and CIA inspector Avtar Singh addressed a press conference regarding the matter on Friday.

The DCP said the suspect, Kuldeep, had previously been involved in drug dealings while Chhinda had launched a campaign against drugs in villages and he used to convince addicts and even peddlers to stay away from drugs. It often led to conflicts with Kuldeep. One day Chhinda stopped Kuldeep from selling drugs, following which the latter decided to teach him a lesson. He put a stubble pile on fire in a bid to destroy the factory of the complainant. The assailants also fired three or four shots at Chhinda’s house. The attackers also fired directly at Chhinda but he had a fortunate escape,” Harpal said.

He said a 32-bore pistol, six cartridges, two 12-bore rifles, and a Maruti Ciaz car were recovered from the suspects. The police are currently interrogating the suspects.

Kuldeep has seven cases registered against him in the past while the other two suspects have two cases registered against them. All three suspects are friends. All arms recovered are illegal and a probe is on to inquire about the unauthorised weapon supplier from whom they got the weapons.