Kataria murder case accused sent to two-day police remand

Patiala, February 5

Patiala police today procured two-day remand of Dinesh Kumar Billa, who was arrested last week in the Sameer Kataria murder case and another of car snatching in Ludhiana. Meanwhile, another suspect, Sukhdeep Singh Ugga of Bangawali village in Sangrur, is still under treatment for a bullet injury he suffered during an encounter with the police on Sunday.

Sources said that Billa was instrumental in providing shelter to gang members, and was also the link among them. The cops suspect he was involved in other crimes, as well. “We want to verify new evidence that has come to the fore following the Sunday encounter in which another co-accused in the murder of Sameer Kataria was arrested,” a cop added.

He added that the two weapons recovered separately from the accused needs investigations as they were illegal and country-made. “The source of the weapons needs to be identified so that no more weapons reach criminals through that channel,” he added.

Earlier, the police had arrested four suspects for the murder of city resident Sameer Kataria.

On Sunday, Senior Superintendent of Police Varun Sharma said Sukhdeep had perpetrated two major crimes within 24 hours in Ludhiana and Patiala. “During the chase today, a police party cornered the accused at Sanaur. He was asked to surrender but he opened fire on the police. In the retaliatory fire by the CIA cops, the accused was hit in the leg. Sukhdeep is a proclaimed offender,” said Varun Sharma. Kataria (37) was killed in a carjacking attempt on Passey Road last Sunday. The police said Kataria was on his way home with his friend Kishan when three motorcyclists attacked them.

A police official said the accused were looking for an easy target, waiting near Gurdwara Dukhniawaran Sahib. “They started following a car as they suspected that the two occupants were drunk. As the vehicle was moving at a slow pace, the accused attacked the driver and forcibly entered the vehicle. Co-passenger Kishan managed to escape,” said the official.

Four suspects — Abhishek, Dinesh Kumar Billa, Sahil Kumar and Yogesh Maurya — had been arrested earlier. Abhishek and Sukhdeep were nabbed after separate encounters.