Ludhiana gold dacoity kingpin arrested with police uniform, fake IDs

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 2

The police on Monday arrested the mastermind behind the recent 2-kg gold dacoity in Ludhiana. He had allegedly committed the crime to mobilise funds for carrying out targeted killings as part of a pro-Khalistan agenda to disturb the state’s peace.

A special team of the Organized Crime Control Unit (OCCU) arrested Tejinder Singh, alias Teja, listed as one of the most wanted gangster-terrorist in Punjab. He belongs to Mehadpur village in Balachaur.

DGP Dinkar Gupta said a set of Punjab Police uniform and an identity card of Seema Suraksha Bal, a paramilitary force of the MHA, were seized from Teja. He was also the prime accused in the January car-jacking incident from Kharar. The accused reportedly planned to use the uniform and the card to gain access to restricted areas for various kinds of crimes, including terrorist actions, said Gupta.

The police have also recovered a Chinese 30 calibre pistol, 10 cartridges and a Chevrolet Optra car from his possession. Investigations have revealed that he had also prepared a fake Aadhaar card and driving licence from Noida (UP). While on the run, he stayed at different locations in Delhi, Rajasthan, UP, and Haryana.

Teja, who had been arrested earlier for involvement in more than 25 criminal cases, including murder, attempt to murder, car-jacking, dacoity etc., disclosed that he had been radicalised and motivated to carry out targeted killings by some terrorists whom he met in various prisons.

Teja also confessed that he and his close associate Rachpal Singh, alias Daula, of Bhuchar Kalan (Tarn Taran district) were planning to loot a bank cash van that was used to transport currency from the main branches of the SBI to ATMs in Maur and Talwandi Sabo.

After his release from the prison in December 2019, he and Daula, who was earlier in jail for his involvement in cross-border smuggling of drugs and weapons and is now absconding in a recent case of murder in Tarn Taran district, had procured sophisticated weapons from across the border. They were also expecting a fresh consignment of automatic arms/ drugs, said the DGP.

A case has been registered against Teja and his associates, at State Special Operation Cell, SAS Nagar, under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

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